Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary/Antepagmentum

Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary, and Greek Lexicon (Rich, 1849)

ANTEPAGMEN'TUM. The jamb of a door-case; especially so termed when the jamb was made with an ornamental moulding which projected before the upright pillar (scapus cardinalis) that formed the pivot on which the door turned, and concealed it entirely from view on the outside. Vitruv. iv. 6. Festus, s. v. Cato. R. R. xiv. 4.

This will be readily understood by the illustration (Antepagmentum/1.1), which represents an elevation and ground-plan of the ancient door and door-case still remaining to the church of S. Theodore at Rome, formerly the temple of Remus. On the right side the antepagmentum is cut away in order to expose the shaft and socket, while the left side and the ground-plan show the manner in which those parts were concealed by the antepagmentum, and explain the real meaning of the word. It will also be observed that a door so constructed could only open inwards; the style of the door, to which the pivot was affixed, and the socket in which it turned, being placed behind a projecting part of the jamb, which was hollowed to receive it, and thus formed a sort of frame lapping over the edges of the door on the outside, so as to exclude the external air from the interior.

2. Antepagmentum superius. Vitruv. iv. 6. 1. The lintel of a door-case; especially when the door opened inwards, and the moulding of the lintel lapped over its upper edge, in the same manner as just described with respect to the jambs on the sides, a construction commonly adopted in the houses at Pompeii, where the doors are usually placed entirely behind the door case.

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  Antepagmentum/1.1