This word can be used as a general term to describe any continuous sculptured or painted composition. It can also be used in a more specific sense to describe the continuous upperworks of the principal architectural orders. The Doric frieze comprises alternating metopes and triglyphs, the former often sculptured. The Ionic frieze is plain with a row of dentils (like beam ends), or sculptured, or sometimes both.
Above: Plaster cast of a panel from the west frieze of the Parthenon. Ashmolean Cast Gallery Cast No. A080d © Ashmolean Museum