Lesena

LESENA. - A pseudopilaster in slight relief from the wall, which has no structural function but only that of dividing the surfaces.

Isolated examples, besides in classical architecture, are already found in the 5th and 6th centuries (S. Francesco in Ravenna; the parish church of Bagnacavallo); they are frequent in the Romanesque age, in facades (S. Frediano in Lucca; S. Rufino in Assisi; S. Pietro in Spoleto; the Apulian cathedrals), in apses (S. Ambrogio in Milan), on the sides (S. Antono). The functional character of Gothic architecture excludes this element, which instead returns to being widely used in the Renaissance and even more so in the Baroque age, where on the main fronts it assumes the characteristics and proportions of the architectural orders, and takes the name of parasta (v.). As a simple relief it is still frequent down to the modern era in minor architecture, where the decorative elements are in brick or stucco.

Mario Zocca