Talk:Four-centred arch

Arch shapes
I'd like to do some work (time permitting!) on a range of related medieval arch styles. These arches are characterised by having been laid out as circular arc segments drawn with compasses. They're not elliptical, nor do they (but rarely) use straight lines.

One thing that's holding me up is an absence of CAD facilities to do the diagrams. Could anyone offer help? Otherwise I'd hand-drawing and then scanning, or using photos.

In particular, I note that the "Tudor Arch" illustration here is inaccurate. The upper segments are drawn as straight, rather than as arcs. This isn't unknown, but it's atypical. It's also very rare on an arch with these rough proportions - it was wider arches (especially fireplaces that didn't need strength) that tended to use it. user:Andy DingleyAndy Dingley 14:23, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

Not all arches are the same
It's just wrong to say that a Tudor arch is the same as a semi-circular arch or parabolic arch. The source cited doesn't read like anything authoritative on the subject of arches. It is shallow. It regards all of "gothic arch", "semicircular arch", "parabolic arch", and "Tudor arch" as synonyms for each other. It simply copies and pastes the same "also known as" material in each of the four terms, so that we learn there, for instance, that a parabolic arch is also called a parabolic arch and a semi-circular arch is also called a semi-circular arch. This is a commercial page, not a work of scholarship, and isn't good enough to be a wiki source. It betrays no knowledge of the actual manner of constructing the various arches with geometry (and anyone who has such knowledge is NOT going to write down that these four kinds of arches are the same thing).64.131.188.183 (talk) 13:35, 5 August 2008 (UTC)Christopher L. Simpson

Four-Centred?
Could someone explain to me where the four center's are in this type of arch? 71.176.154.56 (talk) 03:16, 9 September 2009 (UTC)


 * The outer arcs have centres on the base line of the arch, while the inner arcs have centres some way below. This page on the Catholic Liturgical Library shows diagrams of all the major arch types.


 * By the way, should this article be moved to Four-centred arch? Although this arch was used in Tudor-period English architecture it was also heavily used in Islamic architecture, especially in Iranian architecture (for example, almost all iwans use this type of arch).  --GCarty (talk) 20:01, 28 August 2010 (UTC)

As an amateur historian with an interest, but no background in, architecture, this article is no help to me whatsoever! 81.110.23.38 (talk) 12:55, 25 January 2013 (UTC)

centred vs centered
Hello, I was wondering if the title should be changed to Four-Centered Arch, as that is the American variant. Chessedit (talk) 21:11, 26 May 2020 (UTC)


 * For whatever reason, in most WP:RS the arches have centres, not centers. I guess this is just a tradition. Викидим (talk) 11:46, 4 April 2024 (UTC)

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 * Gloucester Cathedral Front.jpg