Trefoil arch

A trefoil arch, or three-foiled cusped arch (occasionally trilobite arch, no connection to an actual trilobite), is an arch incorporating the shape or outline of a trefoil – three overlapping circles.^[1] It has been widely used for its symbolic significance in Christian architecture.^{[citation needed]} Trefoil arches are common in Gothic architecture for portals and decoration.^[1] Trefoil or "trilobed" arches are also a characteristic feature of decorated portals in late Fatimid architecture and Mamluk architecture in Egypt, from approximately the 12th to 16th centuries.^[2]^: 191^[3]^: 89

Trefoil arch in the choir of the parish Church of Saint-Eliphe (13th century), Rampillon, Seine-et-Marne (Ile-de-France)
Trefoil arches at the Bayeux Cathedral (11th century), Calvados, Normandy, France

^ ^a ^b Hourihane, Colum (2012). The Grove Encyclopedia of Medieval Art and Architecture. Vol. 2. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-539536-5.
^ Graves, Margaret S. (2018-07-31). Arts of Allusion: Object, Ornament, and Architecture in Medieval Islam. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-069592-7.
^ Behrens-Abouseif, Doris (2007). Cairo of the Mamluks: A History of Architecture and its Culture. The American University in Cairo Press. ISBN 9789774160776.

[:6-1] Hourihane, Colum (2012). The Grove Encyclopedia of Medieval Art and Architecture. Vol. 2. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-539536-5.

[2] Graves, Margaret S. (2018-07-31). Arts of Allusion: Object, Ornament, and Architecture in Medieval Islam. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-069592-7.

[3] Behrens-Abouseif, Doris (2007). Cairo of the Mamluks: A History of Architecture and its Culture. The American University in Cairo Press. ISBN 9789774160776.

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