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The niche is ouner place in classical architecture is an exedra
Exedra

In architecture, an exedra is a semicircular recess, often crowned by a half-dome, which is usually set into a building's facade. The original Greek sense was applied to a room that opened onto a stoa, ringed with curved high-backed stone benches, a suitable place for a philosophical conversation....
 or an apse
Apse

In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault . In Romanesque architecture, Byzantine architecture and Gothic architecture Christian abbey, cathedral and church architecture, the term is applied to the semi-circular or polygonal section of the sanctuary at the liturgical east end beyond the altar....
 that has been reduced in size, retaining the half-dome heading usual for an apse. Nero's Domus Aurea
Domus Aurea

The Domus Aurea was a large landscaped portico villa, designed to take advantage of artificially created landscapes built in the heart of Ancient Rome by the Roman Empire Nero after the Great fire of Rome, which devastated Ancient Rome in 64 AD, had cleared away the aristocratic dwellings on the slopes of the Esquiline Hill....
 (AD 64–-69) was the first semi-private dwelling that possessed rooms that were given richly varied floor plans, shaped with niches and exedras; sheathed in dazzling polished white marble, such curved surfaces concentrated or dispersed the daylight.

In Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture which flourished during the high and late Middle Ages. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
, a niche may be set within a tabernacle
Tabernacle

The Tabernacle is known in Hebrew language as the Mishkan . It was a portable dwelling place for the divine presence from the time of the Hebrew Exodus from Egypt through the conquering of the land of Canaan....
 framing, like a richly-decorated miniature house ("aedicule"), such as might serve for a reliquary
Reliquary

A reliquary is a container for relics. These may be the physical remains of saints, such as bones, pieces of clothing, or some object associated with saints or other religious figures....
.






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Madonna and Child (filippo Lippi)
The niche is ouner place in classical architecture is an exedra
Exedra

In architecture, an exedra is a semicircular recess, often crowned by a half-dome, which is usually set into a building's facade. The original Greek sense was applied to a room that opened onto a stoa, ringed with curved high-backed stone benches, a suitable place for a philosophical conversation....
 or an apse
Apse

In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault . In Romanesque architecture, Byzantine architecture and Gothic architecture Christian abbey, cathedral and church architecture, the term is applied to the semi-circular or polygonal section of the sanctuary at the liturgical east end beyond the altar....
 that has been reduced in size, retaining the half-dome heading usual for an apse. Nero's Domus Aurea
Domus Aurea

The Domus Aurea was a large landscaped portico villa, designed to take advantage of artificially created landscapes built in the heart of Ancient Rome by the Roman Empire Nero after the Great fire of Rome, which devastated Ancient Rome in 64 AD, had cleared away the aristocratic dwellings on the slopes of the Esquiline Hill....
 (AD 64–-69) was the first semi-private dwelling that possessed rooms that were given richly varied floor plans, shaped with niches and exedras; sheathed in dazzling polished white marble, such curved surfaces concentrated or dispersed the daylight.

In Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture which flourished during the high and late Middle Ages. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
, a niche may be set within a tabernacle
Tabernacle

The Tabernacle is known in Hebrew language as the Mishkan . It was a portable dwelling place for the divine presence from the time of the Hebrew Exodus from Egypt through the conquering of the land of Canaan....
 framing, like a richly-decorated miniature house ("aedicule"), such as might serve for a reliquary
Reliquary

A reliquary is a container for relics. These may be the physical remains of saints, such as bones, pieces of clothing, or some object associated with saints or other religious figures....
. Backings for altars in churches ("reredos
Reredos

There are two common meanings of the word reredos. In general architecture, the word can mean the back of an open hearth of a fireplace or a screen placed behind a table....
") can be embedded with niches for statue
Statue

A statue is a sculpture in the round representing a person or persons, an animal, or an event, normally full-length, as opposed to a Bust , and at least close to life-size, or larger....
s. Though a niche in either Classical or Gothic context may be empty and merely provide some articulation and variety to a section of wall, the cult origins of the niche suggested that it be filled with a statue. In Fra Filippo Lippi
Filippo Lippi

Fra' Filippo Lippi , also called Lippo Lippi, was an Italy painter of the Italian Quattrocento school....
's Madonna (illustration, right) the trompe-l'oeil niche frames her as with the canopy of estate
Baldachin

A baldachin, or baldaquin , is a canopy of state over an altar or throne. It had its beginnings as a cloth canopy, but in other cases it is a sturdy, permanent Architecture feature, particularly over high altars in cathedrals, where such a structure may be called a ciborium when it is sufficiently architectural in...
 that was positioned over a personage of importance in the late Middle Ages and Early Modern Europe. At the same time, the Madonna is represented as an iconic sculpture who has "come alive" with miraculous immediacy.

Expanding from its primary sense as an architectural
Architecture

The term architecture can refer to a process, a profession or documentation.As a process, architecture is the activity of designing and construction buildings and other physical structures by a person or a computer, primarily to provide shelter....
 recess, a niche can be applied to a hollow, crack, crevice, or foothold.

See also

  • Grotto
    Grotto

    A grotto is any type of natural or artificial cave that is associated with modern, historic or prehistoric use by humans. When it is not an artificial garden feature, a grotto is often a small cave near water and often flooded or liable to flood at high tide....
  • Wave cut platform
  • Mihrab
    Mihrab

    A mihrab is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the qibla, that is, the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca and hence the direction that Muslims should face when praying....