Zoophorus Explained

Zoophorus (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ζῳοφόρος) and Zophorus (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: ζῳφόρος), meaning "bearing animals",^{[1] [2]} was the Ancient Greek term for a decorated frieze between the architrave and cornice, typically with a continuous bas-relief. A zoophoric column is a pillar supporting the figure of an animal. The word is rarely used in modern English architectural writing.^[3]

Notes and References

1. • Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898), Zophorus
2. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=zwo/foros Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, Zoophorus
3. Cyril M. Harris ed., Illustrated Dictionary of Historic Architecture, Dover Architecture, p. 580, 1983, reprint Courier Corporation, 2013,, 9780486132112