ATTIC (i.e. "in the Attic

See also:

• STYLE
• STYLE (from Gr. a-6'1ms, a column; a different word from that used in literature, see below)

style ")  , an architectural term given to the masonry rising above the main cornice of a building, the earliest example known being that of the monument of Thrasyllus at Athens . It was largely employed by the Romans, who in their arches of triumph utilized it for inscriptions or for bas-relief sculpture . It was used also to increase the height of enclosure walls such as those of the Forum of Nerva . By the Italian revivalists it was utilized as a complete storey, pierced with windows, as found in Palladio's work at Vicenza and in Greenwich hospital . The largest attic in existence is that which surmounts the entablature of St Peter's at Rome, which measures 39 ft. in height . The term is also employed in modern terminology to designate an upper storey in a roof, and the feature is sometimes introduced to hide a roof behind .