A common element of Greco-Roman architecture, a pediment is the triangular area on the façade of a temple formed by the slopes of its pitched roof. Greco-Roman pediments were usually filled with sculpture reliefs that illustrate the myths of the ancients. In the Renaissance, the interest in the revival of classical antiquity resulted in the incorporation of the pediment into the architectural vocabulary of the period. Pediments were used not only on the façade of churches and other buildings but also to cap doors, windows, and niches. Rectilinear pediments many times alternated with segmented pediments, which are semicircular in form, to create a sense of rhythm and movement. Broken pediments became a common feature of Mannerist and Baroque architecture.
Historical dictionary of Renaissance art. Lilian H. Zirpolo. 2008.