A scroll ornament is a projecting, curled or spiral architectural enrichment. The Dutch term is krolneut, built from krol (curl) and neut (projecting part) — literally a projecting curl. In English the closest single word is volute.
Where it appears
- In the entablature — in the classical orders it appears above the triglyphs, as a panel with a scroll enrichment on the underside of the cornice.
- In the capital — as the curled element at the head of the column.
- As the volute itself — the spiral, characteristic of the Ionic capital.
- As a corbel — some sources use the Dutch term for a projecting stone that supports something.
Watch the meanings
This term calls for caution. Dutch architectural historians and archaeologists have used krolneut in different ways over time: sometimes for the panel bearing the ornament, sometimes for the scroll itself, sometimes for a load-bearing element. That caused confusion, and still does.
Anyone reading an old specification, a conservation report or a nineteenth-century handbook does well to take the meaning from the context — or, where execution is at stake, to ask for a drawing or the exact location. In current usage, volute for the scroll and corbel or console for the supporting element are unambiguous.
In conservation work
- Record it before removal. An ornament taken off rarely finds its own way back to the right place. Photographs, dimensions and a position reference are essential.
- Take a mould from the original where several identical scrolls survive and one is missing. That keeps the rhythm of the facade intact.
- Find the cause of the decay. On a projecting ornament outdoors that is almost always water standing on the top surface. Without proper drainage or a covering, the repair is only temporary.
Related terms
- Capital
- Console
- Cornice
- Entablature
- Triglyph
- Ionic order
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