Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Spanish term or phrase:
clave de la cúpula
English translation:
apex of the dome
Added to glossary by
Lucy Williams
Nov 13, 2015 15:08
8 yrs ago
4 viewers *
Spanish term
Spain
Translator and native English copywriter
Native in: English (Variant: British)
Works in: Spanish to English
clave de la cúpula
Spanish to English
Other
Architecture
Church architecture
Al interior dispone de planta octogonal cubierta por una cúpula de media naranja no vista al exterior apoyada sobre un tambor y seis arcos adosados al muro.
Es gallonada con la superficie dividida por nervios que convergen en el óculo o linterna ciega que está situada en la clave de la cúpula y que en su origen debió estar abierta y acristalada, según se advierte en la restauración que se está llevando a cabo.
Thanks
Es gallonada con la superficie dividida por nervios que convergen en el óculo o linterna ciega que está situada en la clave de la cúpula y que en su origen debió estar abierta y acristalada, según se advierte en la restauración que se está llevando a cabo.
Thanks
Proposed translations
(English)
| 4 +1 | apex of the dome |
Charles Davis
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| 4 +1 | keystone of the dome |
neilmac
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Proposed translations
+1
7 hrs
Selected
apex of the dome
In this context I think the word you want is apex. More loosely, you could just say the top, or even the centre. "Clave" is indeed the term for the keystone of an arch or vault ("Piedra central y más elevada con que se cierra el arco o la bóveda"), but you don't normally refer to the keystone of a dome, and you wouldn't say that an oculum or lantern was located at the keystone.
"Figure 5.5 Interior view of the Pantheon's dome. This view highlights the coffered ceiling panels and the opening of the oculus at the apex of the dome."
https://books.google.es/books?id=hp26BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA174&lpg=P...
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Note added at 9 hrs (2015-11-14 00:23:21 GMT)
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"Oculum" was a mistake on my part; it's normally called an oculus (as you can see in my quotation).
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Note added at 17 hrs (2015-11-14 08:49:48 GMT)
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As I have just explained to Phil, the word "clave" does mean keystone, but it's being used here in the sense of the keystone position: the place where keystone would be if there were one. But if there's an oculus, there is no actual keystone, just a hole (as in the classic case of the Pantheon in Rome). "En la clave de" works like this in Spanish, but "at the keystone" doesn't work in English if there is no actual keystone. You would have to say "at the keystone position", but I think that would be clumsy and unnatural.
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Note added at 17 hrs (2015-11-14 09:00:04 GMT)
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The point is that an oculus is an alternative to a keystone, whose structural function is served by a compression ring. Renaissance architects such as Brunelleschi learned this technique from the Pantheon, where a bronze ring was used.
In this particular case, as I say, "clave" doesn't literally mean a stone, it means the apex, the structural key point. It can be used like that in Spanish but "keystone" can't be used like that in English.
"Figure 5.5 Interior view of the Pantheon's dome. This view highlights the coffered ceiling panels and the opening of the oculus at the apex of the dome."
https://books.google.es/books?id=hp26BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA174&lpg=P...
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Note added at 9 hrs (2015-11-14 00:23:21 GMT)
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"Oculum" was a mistake on my part; it's normally called an oculus (as you can see in my quotation).
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Note added at 17 hrs (2015-11-14 08:49:48 GMT)
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As I have just explained to Phil, the word "clave" does mean keystone, but it's being used here in the sense of the keystone position: the place where keystone would be if there were one. But if there's an oculus, there is no actual keystone, just a hole (as in the classic case of the Pantheon in Rome). "En la clave de" works like this in Spanish, but "at the keystone" doesn't work in English if there is no actual keystone. You would have to say "at the keystone position", but I think that would be clumsy and unnatural.
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Note added at 17 hrs (2015-11-14 09:00:04 GMT)
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The point is that an oculus is an alternative to a keystone, whose structural function is served by a compression ring. Renaissance architects such as Brunelleschi learned this technique from the Pantheon, where a bronze ring was used.
In this particular case, as I say, "clave" doesn't literally mean a stone, it means the apex, the structural key point. It can be used like that in Spanish but "keystone" can't be used like that in English.
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
philgoddard
: If they'd meant apex, they'd presumably have said cumbre or cima. Collins defines keystone as "The central stone at the top of an arch or the top stone of a dome or vault".
7 hrs
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The "would have used X" argument is a fallacy. If there's an oculus, there's no keystone; "clave" here means the keystone position. In English "at the keystone" isn't used like this, as "en la clave" is in Spanish. You have to translate for the context.
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| agree |
Muriel Vasconcellos
11 hrs
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Thanks, Muriel :)
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks"
+1
1 hr
keystone of the dome
As phil says, a peremptory internet search quickly reveals translation examples.
"The Foundation is going to place relics of Gautama Buddha in a small chamber above the top keystone of the dome... "
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Note added at 1 hr (2015-11-13 16:12:15 GMT)
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"Regarding a "dome keystone": I assume that this refers to the keystone at the centre top of the dome which acts like the keystone of an arch."
http://archnet.org/archive/message_130955
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Note added at 1 day2 hrs (2015-11-14 17:53:29 GMT)
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CAVEAT: Charles seems to know a lot more about this than I do, or at least has researched the query more thoroughly...
"The Foundation is going to place relics of Gautama Buddha in a small chamber above the top keystone of the dome... "
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Note added at 1 hr (2015-11-13 16:12:15 GMT)
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"Regarding a "dome keystone": I assume that this refers to the keystone at the centre top of the dome which acts like the keystone of an arch."
http://archnet.org/archive/message_130955
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Note added at 1 day2 hrs (2015-11-14 17:53:29 GMT)
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CAVEAT: Charles seems to know a lot more about this than I do, or at least has researched the query more thoroughly...
Discussion