tympanum

A fast-rising artist who had been commissioned at a young age to design the tympanum over the central doors of the National Cathedral, Hart was working in a long, historical tradition of realistic representation.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 1, 2017

The ear canal extends inward from the pinna to a circular membrane called the tympanum.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015

“Mahna Mahna” is as catchy as a song can be, like a fishing hook stuck in your tympanum.

From Slate ● Nov. 23, 2011

Over the entrance door into one of the earlier funerary chambers, a Greco-Roman triangular tympanum illustrates the gradual penetration of Hellenistic motifs.

From New York Times ● Jul. 23, 2010

Voussoirs were carved to form the arched gables over each of the three front doors and a tympanum — a semicircular sculptured panel — was carved to go above each of the doors.

From "Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction" by David Macaulay

The Crucifixion as a subject for representation on such tympana is said to be rare, the Last Judgment being the one usually selected.

From Somerset by G. W. Wade

The French military bands too are equally discordant; so fond are they of drums, that they seem to have converted the tympana of their ears into parchment.

From The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 12, No. 333, September 27, 1828 by Various

Where the church enrichments consist, as on the Byzantine basilicas, of panellings, arcades, and tympana of gilded sculpture in wood or stone, with figures of saints, the pages of the Gospel-book bear similar designs.

From Illuminated Manuscripts by John William Bradley

The tympana above this is pierced with eighteen windows filled with geometric tracery.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 4 "Aram, Eugene" to "Arcueil" by Various

Later examples of plaster work of Byzantine tradition are to be found at Cividale, and at Sant' Ambrogio, Milan, where the tympana of the well-known baldachin are of this material, and contain modelled figures.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 4 "Bulgaria" to "Calgary" by Various

Old Boer Senators leaned forward, hand behind ear in order that not one word of the Prince's English should escape their Dutch-hardened tympanums.

From Time Magazine Archive

Last week he had the thrill of seeing his bellowing affect not just the ear of some baffled layman but the tympanums of that knowing politician, the Head of the Democratic Party.

From Time Magazine Archive

The masons put together the pieces of the rose window and installed the tympanums and voussoirs over the doors.

From "Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction" by David Macaulay

Traffic may he obstructed, and tympanums be rent, The noise may torture sufferers with sickness well-nigh spent; But these be merely trifles.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 99, July 12, 1890 by Various

The tympanums, like a whirli- The midriff, like a montero-cap. gig.

From Gargantua and Pantagruel, Illustrated, Book 4 by Peter Anthony Motteux