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Cartouche by Olin L. Warner, detail of bronze doors at the main entrance of the Thomas Jefferson Building, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. The cherubs are holding a cartouche with an oil lamp, representing “Research.” Hatshepsut Ptolemy III Euergetes cartouche of Ramses II
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Hagia Sophia. Istanbul, Turkey. Constantinople. Church of the Holy Wisdom. Church of the Divine Wisdom. Mosque.
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Cartouche by Olin L. Warner, detail of bronze doors at the main entrance of the Thomas Jefferson Building, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. The cherubs are holding a cartouche with an oil lamp, representing “Research.”
Cartouche by Olin L. Warner, detail of bronze doors at the main entrance of the Thomas Jefferson Building, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. The cherubs are holding a cartouche with an oil lamp, representing “Research.”

Cartouche

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Hatshepsut
HatshepsutCartouche of Hatshepsut, on an obelisk in Luxor, Egypt.

Cartouche, in architecture, ornamentation in scroll form, applied especially to elaborate frames around tablets or coats of arms. By extension, the word is applied to any oval shape or even to a decorative shield, whether scroll-like in appearance or not. The oval frame enclosing Egyptian hieroglyphs that represent a name is also called a cartouche.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Kathleen Kuiper.