roof boss

French translation: bossage de voûte

06:58 May 8, 2013

English to French translations [PRO]
Architecture / Churches

English term or phrase: roof boss

Part of a commentary for an historical tour of a church. What is the French for "roof boss" (protrusion of stone, particularly at the intersection of a vault, usually decorative) , please? I need to describe it to the visitors and cannot find the word or phrase! Thanks in advance. Answers in English or French are fine.

Nicky Over KudoZ activity Questions: 375 (1 open) (32 closed without grading) Answers: 58 United Kingdom
Local time: 13:51

French translation:bossage de voûte

Explanation:
I don't know if this is quite right, but I found a few refs. that seem to suggest the term 'bossage' is at least used; you might find this little glossary useful:

http://medieval.lacorreze.com/glossaire1_architecture_mediev...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 16 mins (2013-05-08 07:14:48 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

This site illustrates them but calls them 'clé de voûte':

http://lalumierededieu.eklablog.com/saint-maximin-la-sainte-...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 18 mins (2013-05-08 07:16:21 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

This page (scroll right down) calls the specific type illustrated a 'clé pendante de voûte':

https://patrimages.regionpaca.fr/resultat.php?DOM=DOM&DPT=&M...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 42 mins (2013-05-08 07:40:41 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

This useful glossary could be a good resource, though sadly doesn't include your term!

http://architecture.relig.free.fr/glossaire.htm

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 6 hrs (2013-05-08 13:00:57 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Thanks to the 'agreers' below, but the more research comes to light, the more I am convinced that 'clé de voûte' (as I suggested quite early on in my added note) is the commoner term used here.

I find it surprising that there wouldn't be a more specific term in FR as in EN, so I think it would be as well to keep looking... and where is Chris Crockett when we need him?

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 day8 hrs (2013-05-09 15:41:49 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

Interestingly, this exact term has been discussed previously some years back on Wordref.:

http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=795798

The same conclusion seems to have been reached then...

Selected response from:

Tony M
France
Local time: 14:51

Grading comment

Great, Tony - thanks very much for all your references. Very helpful!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

5 +2

clé de voûte

Tabula_Trad. (X)

rosace

kashew

1 +2

bossage de voûte

Tony M

Summary of reference entries provided

Clé de voûte = Keystone

FX Fraipont (X)

Discussion entries: 9

Tabula_Trad. (X)

France

16:13 May 8, 2013

@Tony M

Oui, il s'agissait certainement d'un autre contexte (boss traduit par "bossage" dans le domaine industriel, pour la partie saillante d'une pièce).
Sinon, boss peut désigner en architecture une "bosse" (qui se distingue du bossage, que l'on peut traduire par bossage en anglais) :

http://bit.ly/ZHJwKC

Tony M

France

@ Tabula

15:21 May 8, 2013

Yes, I am aware of that usage; but I have also seen 'bossage' used to translate' boss' — but I suspect it may have been aberrant, or in a different context.

Tabula_Trad. (X)

France

15:16 May 8, 2013

@Tony M
En architecture, "bossage" désigne les saillies sur le parement (fonction essentiellement ornementale). Ces bossages peuvent être de différents types (en boule, en pointes-de-diamant, etc.). Vous pensiez à autre chose ?

kashew

France

Roof?

14:14 May 8, 2013

Not here: this is an interior feature and I would insist on ceiling -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistine_Chapel_ceiling
Getting back to the questionable source "roof boss" - without context I'd always take that as being exterior, on top of the roof like the fiddler!
It's probably not going to make for a definitive glossary entry in this case.

Tony M

France

@ Kashew

13:33 May 8, 2013

You'd have thought so, wouldn't you? And yet we talk of 'the roof of the nave' etc. Even the magnificent vault of the Sistine Chapel is sometimes referred to as 'roof' and sometimes 'ceiling'.

I think in this sort of architecture, it is regarded more as if it were the underside of the roof (as of course it once would have been) rather than a separate ceiling.

kashew

France

Roof?

13:13 May 8, 2013

Wouldn't ceiling be better for a church interior?

Tony M

France

@ Tabula

12:58 May 8, 2013

That is certainly one of the meanings of 'bossage'; but as with so many other terms, it is also used in other ways too.

Tabula_Trad. (X)

France

Bossage

12:19 May 8, 2013

Le terme "bossage" s'applique au mur (partie qui forme une saillie).

http://www.caue03.com/vocabulaire-illustre/33/Bossage.html

Michaela Pizzinini

Clé de voûte

08:02 May 8, 2013

@Tony you may be right

http://www.linternaute.com/musee/diaporama/1/7172/musee-arch...

http://www.paradoxplace.com/Photo Pages/UK/Britain_Centre/Wo...

Answers

6 hrs confidence:

rosace

Explanation:
*

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 6 heures (2013-05-08 13:15:25 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

ornament or decoration rather than the structural clé/clef.

kashew
France
Local time: 14:51
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 26

5 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

clé de voûte

Explanation:
Clé de voûte se dit keystone mais aussi boss (roof boss).

"In Gothic architecture, an ornemental knob or projection at the intersection of ribs in a vault. Bosses were often elaborately decorated with carving (figurative, foliate, or heraldic)…" (The Oxford Dictionary of Art)

http://books.google.fr/books?id=WYaRX58a0_IC&pg=PA92&lpg=PA9...

"Clef : claveau formant le milieu d'une plate-bande, le faîte d'un arc ou d'une voûte, la tête d'une nervure" (J.-M. Pérouse de Montclos, Architecture. Description et vocabulaire méthodiques, 2011, p. 322).

La clé de voûte peut être pendante, historiée, etc.

Voir les exemples bilingues ci-dessous (premier document, bas de la page 15).

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 jour2 heures (2013-05-09 09:44:48 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Une dernière précision :

Dans ce contexte ("tour of a church", "protrusion of stone, particularly at the intersection of a vault, usually decorative"), le terme "clé de voûte" est à mon avis le plus approprié. Il correspond au sens suivant :

"Bosses are primarily keystones, but they also serve to obviate the unsightly conjunction of ribs—sometimes as many as eight. They replace what would be a mass of masonry joints with a lively play of curving forms cleverly contained by the essential circularity of the outline, yet running up into the “depth” of the boss where it meets the vault between the ribs."

http://hds.essex.ac.uk/exetercath/docs/introduction.htm

Cela n'empêche pas de rencontrer des exemples de "boss" ayant une fonction purement décorative : http://www.crsbi.ac.uk/resources/glossaryImagePopup/boss_250...

Example sentence(s):

The absense of a projecting boss [clé de voute saillante] has a visual consequence of some importance…

Reference: http://www.academia.edu/1698848/The_Design_of_Space_in_Gothi...
Reference: http://www.bayeux-intercom.fr/fileadmin/documents/global/pdf...

Tabula_Trad. (X)
France
Local time: 14:51
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: French

13 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

bossage de voûte

Tony M
France
Local time: 14:51
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 34

Grading comment

Great, Tony - thanks very much for all your references. Very helpful!

Reference comments

1 hr peer agreement (net): +1

Reference: Clé de voûte = Keystone

Reference information:
"A keystone is the wedge-shaped stone piece at the apex of a masonry vault or arch, which is the final piece placed during construction and locks all the stones into position, allowing the arch to bear weight.[1][2][3] Although a masonry arch or vault cannot be self-supporting until the keystone is placed, the keystone experiences the least stress of any of the voussoirs, due to its position at the apex.[4] Old keystones can decay due to vibration, a condition known as bald arch."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_(architecture)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 13 hrs (2013-05-08 20:31:22 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"Roof bosses

High overhead, the Cathedral boasts over a thousand carvings in wood or stone that cover the joins between the stone ribs of its vaulted ceilings. These roof bosses range from simple 13th-century leaf designs, to elaborate Renaissance images of angels, animals and beasts, heraldic badges and emblems of Christ’s Passion."
http://winchester-cathedral.org.uk/history-treasures/art-arc...

"A boss is a protrusion in stone or wood, usually to be found in the ceilings of buildings, especially at the intersection of the ribs of a vault, and often intricately carved with decorative devices. Eight ribs are shown in this photograph, forming an intersecting cross and saltire.
According to its website, Norwich Cathedral has more bosses than any other cathedral worldwide: 1000 of them. Two-hundred-and-fifty-two are to be found in the nave. Its rib vault was built by Bishop Walter Lyhart after the fire of 1463, which destroyed the earlier wooden roof. They illustrate many subjects, from Creation at the east end to Doomsday at the west. The seven eastern bays cover events in the Old Testament and the seven western bays those in the New Testament."
https://www.norwich.anglican.org/file/414/351/‎

"What is a Boss?

Roof bosses are decorative architectural features found on the ceilings of buildings, frequently to cover the intersection of vaulting. They became widespread with the advent of Gothic architecture and are often intricately carved with foliage, heraldic devices or other decoration.

The bosses in St George’s Chapel feature colourful heraldic arms and badges, angels, initials, dragons, animals, floral and religious symbols. Amongst them are pendant bosses, apparently suspended in space, developed in France and rarely found in England. You can see them in the Quire of St George’s Chapel. "
http://www.stgeorges-windsor.org/supporting-st-georges/adopt...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 13 hrs (2013-05-08 20:36:33 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"Roof bosses in parish churches have, then, by virtue of their material, their lack
of structural function, and a perceived lack of iconographical sophistication,
been excluded from serious study. It is interesting to recall that C.J.P. Cave‟s
initial involvement with roof bosses was prompted not by intellectual curiosity
but by his interest in photography, and that his focus throughout was primarily
on the great churches."
http://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/pearl.../bitstream/.../Sue Andre...

FX Fraipont (X)
Belgium
Native speaker of:

French
PRO pts in category: 172

Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

Return to KudoZ list

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

See also:

ProZ.com term search

Search millions of term translations

roof boss

French translation: bossage de voûte

Answers

Reference comments

KudoZ™ translation help

Your current localization setting

Select a language

roof boss

French translation: bossage de voûte

Answers

Reference comments

KudoZ™ translation help

You have native languages that can be verified

Your current localization setting

Select a language