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Keystone (architecture)
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<h2 id="architecture">Architecture</h2> <p>In a <a href="/facts/Rib_vault/gLsB0gnT">rib-vaulted</a> ceiling, keystones commonly mark the intersections of any two or more arched ribs. For aesthetics, keystones are often larger than ribs in vaults and many of the <a href="/facts/Voussoir/uNmV8wma">voussoirs</a> (arch stones) in arches, or embellished with a <a href="/facts/Boss_(architecture)/Hf6BAyoA">boss</a>. </p><p>A "dropped keystone" is one where the keystone projects lower than the other voussoirs. Following <a href="/facts/Giulio_Romano_(painter)/vTY8v3YW">Giulio Romano</a>, <a href="/facts/Mannerism/URrtSBov">Mannerist</a> architects of the 16th century often designed arches with enlarged and slightly dropped keystones, as in the "church house" entrance portal at <a href="/facts/Colditz_Castle/UTGApI3F">Colditz Castle</a>. Numerous examples are found in the work of <a href="/facts/Sebastiano_Serlio/12R8heKC">Sebastiano Serlio</a>, a 16th-century Italian Mannerist architect. </p> <h2 id="metaphor">Metaphor</h2> <p class="note">See also: <a href="/facts/Cornerstone/atoU4fhN">cornerstone</a></p> <p>Keystone is often used metaphorically for an essential part on which the whole depends or as an acme of the whole. </p><p>In Christianity, <a href="/facts/Psalms/QbfaqRCY">Psalms</a> 118:22,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> translated in the <a href="/facts/Authorized_Version/FdS5n0lX">Authorized Version</a> as "The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner", is taken to refer to Jesus. </p><p>The <a href="/facts/List_of_states_and_territories_of_the_United_States/mWmHJNWv">U.S. state</a> of <a href="/facts/Pennsylvania/HGqC5bBm">Pennsylvania</a> calls itself the "Keystone State", because during early American history, it held a crucial central position among the <a href="/facts/Thirteen_Colonies/H50dauTJ">Thirteen Colonies</a> geographically, economically, and politically, like the keystone in an arch.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> A keystone is a symbol of Pennsylvania, being used in the logos of many Pennsylvania government departments, in Pennsylvania <a href="/facts/Highway_shield/8vaPC0nF">state route signs</a>, and on <a href="/facts/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_Pennsylvania/t3xBw4l6">Pennsylvania car license plates</a>, and the Shoulder Sleeve Insignia of the Pennsylvania National Guard's <a href="/facts/28th_Infantry_Division_(United_States)/npTH1G8B">28th Infantry Division (United States)</a>, a Red Keystone, first adopted during <a href="/facts/World_War_I/vITTUanQ">World War I</a> in October 1918. </p><p>Referring to the <a href="/facts/Book_of_Mormon/jUlLhHE3">Book of Mormon</a>, <a href="/facts/Joseph_Smith/qgolfeUd">Joseph Smith</a> said that it "was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book."<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> <a href="/facts/Ezra_Taft_Benson/cdWWU6Bv">Ezra Taft Benson</a>, the 13th president of <a href="/facts/The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints/rcgQH9bT">the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints</a>, said it "is my prayer that the Book of Mormon may become the keystone of our lives."<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="gallery">Gallery</h2> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Architectural_sculpture/rN70PAM2">Architectural sculpture</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Coping_(architecture)/NYMPAtdY">Coping (architecture)</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/List_of_classical_architecture_terms/jNYMoyCL">List of classical architecture terms</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Oculus_(architecture)/k2VQ6CXd">Oculus</a> compression ring</li></ul> <h2 id="notes">Notes</h2> <h2 id="sources">Sources</h2> <ul><li>Wilkins, H.S.C. (1879). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=f9DNAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA291"><i>A treatise on mountain roads, live loads, and bridges</i></a>. E. & F.N. Spon. Retrieved 2023-12-16.</li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <a href="/facts/Wikisource/TrMdylNf">Wikisource</a> has the text of the <a href="/facts/Encyclop%25C3%25A6dia_Britannica_Eleventh_Edition/mPElbCRY">1911 <i>Encyclopædia Britannica</i></a> article "Keystone". <p> Media related to keystones at Wikimedia Commons </p> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Ching, Francis D.K. (1995). A Visual Dictionary of Architecture. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. p. 12. ISBN 0-471-28451-3. <a href="0-471-28451-3" target="_blank">0-471-28451-3</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>"Glossary of Medieval Art and Architecture – Keystone". University of Pittsburgh. Retrieved 2007-06-25. <a href="http://www.pitt.edu/~medart/menuglossary/keystone.htm" target="_blank">http://www.pitt.edu/~medart/menuglossary/keystone.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>"keystone". Merriam Webster. Retrieved 2007-06-25. <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/keystone" target="_blank">http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/keystone</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Wilkins 1879, p. 292. - Wilkins, H.S.C. (1879). A treatise on mountain roads, live loads, and bridges. E. & F.N. Spon. Retrieved 2023-12-16. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=f9DNAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA291" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=f9DNAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA291</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Ps 118:22 <a href="https://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Psalms%20118:22&version=nrsv" target="_blank">https://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Psalms%20118:22&version=nrsv</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>"State Symbols". PA.gov. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 12 January 2024. <a href="https://www.pa.gov/guides/state-symbols" target="_blank">https://www.pa.gov/guides/state-symbols</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>"Chapter 27". History of the Church Volume 4. Salt Lake City: Deseret News. 1908. p. 461. Retrieved 12 January 2024. <a href="https://byustudies.byu.edu/online-chapters/volume-4-chapter-27/" target="_blank">https://byustudies.byu.edu/online-chapters/volume-4-chapter-27/</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>"'Keystone of our religion'". Church News. 17 August 2013. Retrieved 12 January 2024. <a href="https://www.thechurchnews.com/2013/8/17/23224107/keystone-of-our-religion" target="_blank">https://www.thechurchnews.com/2013/8/17/23224107/keystone-of-our-religion</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>