In interiors, the frieze of a room is the section of wall above thepicture rail and under thecrown moldings or cornice. By extension, a frieze is a long stretch ofpainted,sculpted or evencalligraphic decoration in such a position, normally above eye-level. Frieze decorations may depict scenes in a sequence of discrete panels. The material of which the frieze is made may beplasterwork, carved wood or other decorative medium.[3]
More loosely, "frieze" is sometimes used for any continuous horizontal strip of decoration on a wall, containing figurative or ornamental motifs. In an example of an architectural frieze on the façade of a building, the octagonalTower of the Winds in the Romanagora atAthens bears relief sculptures of the eight winds on its frieze.
Apulvinated frieze (orpulvino) isconvex in section. Such friezes were typical of 17th-centuryNorthern Mannerism, especially in subsidiary friezes, and much employed in interior architecture and in furniture.
