OCULUS

(Latin: eye), in architecture, any of several structural elements resembling an eye. A small window that is circular or oval in shape, such as an oeil-de-boeuf window (q.v.), is an oculus. The round opening at the top of some domes, or cupolas, is also an oculus; one example of this kind is found in the Pantheon, in Rome. The capital of every Ionic column features a characteristic pair of volutes, or spiral scrolls, at the centre of each of which is an eye, or disk, also known as an oculus.