Architectural element in the form of a decorative bracket, made of stone, brick or wood, embedded in the wall and protruding from it, supporting a sculpture, cornice, balcony, bay window, column or ribs of the vault. It is also a protrusion (base) in the wall serving as a support for example a ceiling. The corbel was used in the architecture of many eras for construction and decoration purposes, but it achieved the most perfect sculptural forms in the romanesque and gothic periods.
