LESENA. – A pilaster-like strip projecting slightly from the wall, which has no structural function but serves only to divide the surfaces.
Apart from classical architecture, isolated examples are already found in the 5th and 6th centuries (S. Francesco di Ravenna; the parish church of Bagnacavallo); they are frequent in the Romanesque period, on façades (S. Frediano of Lucca; S. Rufino of Assisi; S. Pietro of Spoleto; the Apulian cathedrals), in apses (S. Ambrogio of Milan), and on the sides (S. Antono). The functionality of Gothic architecture excludes this element, which, however, once again came to be widely used during the Renaissance and even more so in the Baroque period, when, on principal elevations, it assumed the characteristics and proportions of the architectural orders and was called a parasta (v.). As a simple projection, it remained frequent until the modern period in minor architecture, where the decorative elements were made of brick or stucco. Mario Zocca