Was (wer) ist cartouche - definition
![Neo-Baroque]] house from [[Bucharest]], Romania](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Cartouche on the house with number 9, on the Doctor Dimitrie D. Gerota street from Bucharest (Romania).jpg?width=200 "Neo-Baroque]] house from [[Bucharest]], Romania")
![sanctuary of Isis and Magna Mater]] in [[Mainz]]](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Heiligtum mainz4.jpg?width=200 "sanctuary of Isis and Magna Mater]] in [[Mainz]]")
![Brâncovenesc]] cartouche on a damaged stone in the courtyard of [[Antim Monastery]], [[Bucharest]], [[Romania]]](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Stone in the courtyard of the Antim Monastery 19.jpg?width=200 "Brâncovenesc]] cartouche on a damaged stone in the courtyard of [[Antim Monastery]], [[Bucharest]], [[Romania]]")
![Renaissance]] cartouches, a big one with [[Alexander the Great]] and a smaller one with an inscription, 1574-1637, the [[Rijksmuseum]], [[Amsterdam]], the [[Netherlands]]](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Alexander de Grote als een van de negen helden De negen helden (serietitel), RP-P-1890-A-15504.jpg?width=200 "Renaissance]] cartouches, a big one with [[Alexander the Great]] and a smaller one with an inscription, 1574-1637, the [[Rijksmuseum]], [[Amsterdam]], the [[Netherlands]]")
![mascaron]], 1645, the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Title Plate, from Livre Nouveau de Fleurs Tres-Util MET DP837400.jpg?width=200 "mascaron]], 1645, the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]")
![gilded]], on the [[Maison du Moulin à vent]], [[Bruxelles]], [[Belgium]]](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Belgique - Bruxelles - Maison du Moulin à vent - 03.jpg?width=200 "gilded]], on the [[Maison du Moulin à vent]], [[Bruxelles]], [[Belgium]]")
![[[Etching]] of a complex Baroque cartouche, by Bernard Turreau, 1716, the Metropolitan Museum of Art](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Cartouches Nouvellement Inventez par J.B. Toro MET DP311957.jpg?width=200 "[[Etching]] of a complex Baroque cartouche, by Bernard Turreau, 1716, the Metropolitan Museum of Art")
![Frontispiece]] for ''Figures françoises et comiques'' by Robert Hecquet, 18th century, the Metropolitan Museum of Art](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Frontispiece for 'Figures French and comic' (Figures francoises et comiques) MET DP834139.jpg?width=200 "Frontispiece]] for ''Figures françoises et comiques'' by Robert Hecquet, 18th century, the Metropolitan Museum of Art")
![Etchings of multiple Baroque cartouche designs, unknown date, [[Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum]], New York City](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Print (France) (CH 18264721).jpg?width=200 "Etchings of multiple Baroque cartouche designs, unknown date, [[Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum]], New York City")
![[[Rococo]] cartouche from the Second Livre de Cartouches, circa 1710-1772, Rijksmuseum](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Cartouche bekroond met drietand Second livre de cartouches (serietitel op object), RP-P-2011-164-8.jpg?width=200 "[[Rococo]] cartouche from the Second Livre de Cartouches, circa 1710-1772, Rijksmuseum")
![Rococo cartouche in the Chambre de la reine of the [[Palace of Versailles]] ([[Versailles]], France)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Château de Versailles, chambre de la reine, voussure (vertu royale), François Boucher.jpg?width=200 "Rococo cartouche in the Chambre de la reine of the [[Palace of Versailles]] ([[Versailles]], France)")
![came]], circa 1770, Metropolitan Museum of Art](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Pair of overdoors MET 4258.jpg?width=200 "came]], circa 1770, Metropolitan Museum of Art")
![Renaissance Revival]] cartouche on Rue des Archives in Paris](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Numéro 009, Rue des Archives (Paris).jpg?width=200 "Renaissance Revival]] cartouche on Rue des Archives in Paris")
![[[Rococo Revival]] [[stucco]] with cartouches in the corners, on a ceiling of the [[Cantacuzino Palace]], Bucharest](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Detail with Rococo Revival stuccos in the room where tickets and souvenirs are sold, inside the George Enescu Museum.jpg?width=200 "[[Rococo Revival]] [[stucco]] with cartouches in the corners, on a ceiling of the [[Cantacuzino Palace]], Bucharest")
![Romanian Revival]] cartouche above a window of house no. 60 on Bulevardul Dacia, Bucharest](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/60, Bulevardul Dacia, Bucharest (Romania) 1.jpg?width=200 "Romanian Revival]] cartouche above a window of house no. 60 on Bulevardul Dacia, Bucharest")
![Académie d'Agriculture de France]] in Paris](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Académie d'agriculture de France, 18 rue de Bellechasse, Paris 7e 2.jpg?width=200 "Académie d'Agriculture de France]] in Paris")
![19th century Eclectic Classicist cartouche with a [[caduceus]], on the roof of the [[Crédit Lyonnais headquarters]], Paris](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Siège CL coin.jpg?width=200 "19th century Eclectic Classicist cartouche with a [[caduceus]], on the roof of the [[Crédit Lyonnais headquarters]], Paris")
![19th century Eclectic Classicist rectangular cartouche of the [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Printemps_Haussmann Printemps Haussmann], Paris](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Magasin Printemps 64-70 boulevard Haussmann Paris 15.jpg?width=200 "19th century Eclectic Classicist rectangular cartouche of the [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Printemps_Haussmann Printemps Haussmann], Paris")
![19th century Eclectic Classicist cartouches in and under a [[pediment]] of Hala Traian, Bucharest. The rectangular one is a revival of Ancient Roman ones, that had the exact same shape](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/The pediment above the entrance of Hala Traian from the Calea Călărași, in Bucharest (Romania). There is written MDCCCXCVI (1896).jpg?width=200 "19th century Eclectic Classicist cartouches in and under a [[pediment]] of Hala Traian, Bucharest. The rectangular one is a revival of Ancient Roman ones, that had the exact same shape")
![Beaux-Arts]] cartouche of the [[Pont Alexandre III]], Paris](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Paris - Le Pont Alexandre III - 220.JPG?width=200 "Beaux-Arts]] cartouche of the [[Pont Alexandre III]], Paris")
![Three designs of [[Art Nouveau]] cartouches](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/3 Art Nouveau cartouches.jpg?width=200 "Three designs of [[Art Nouveau]] cartouches")
![Complex [[Art Deco]] cartouche in the [[New York State Museum]], [[Albany, New York]]](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/NewYorkStateMuseumInteriorWestSideHighwayCartouche.jpg?width=200 "Complex [[Art Deco]] cartouche in the [[New York State Museum]], [[Albany, New York]]")
![Stalinist]] cartouche of the [[Palace of Culture and Science]], [[Warsaw]], [[Poland]]](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/PKiN tablica 1955.jpg?width=200 "Stalinist]] cartouche of the [[Palace of Culture and Science]], [[Warsaw]], [[Poland]]")
Wikipedia
In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an oval with a line at one end tangent to it, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name. The first examples of the cartouche are associated with pharaohs at the end of the Third Dynasty, but the feature did not come into common use until the beginning of the Fourth Dynasty under Pharaoh Sneferu. While the cartouche is usually vertical with a horizontal line, if it makes the name fit better it can be horizontal, with a vertical line at the end (in the direction of reading). The ancient Egyptian word for cartouche was shenu, and the cartouche was essentially an expanded shen ring. Demotic script reduced the cartouche to a pair of brackets and a vertical line.
Of the five royal titularies it was the prenomen (the throne name), and the "Son of Ra" titulary (the so-called nomen name given at birth), which were enclosed by a cartouche.
At times amulets took the form of a cartouche displaying the name of a king and placed in tombs. Archaeologists often find such items important for dating a tomb and its contents. Cartouches were formerly only worn by pharaohs. The oval surrounding their name was meant to protect them from evil spirits in life and after death. The cartouche has become a symbol representing good luck and protection from evil.
The term "cartouche" was first applied by French soldiers who fancied that the symbol they saw so frequently repeated on the pharaonic ruins they encountered resembled a muzzle-loading firearm's paper powder cartridge (cartouche in French).
As a hieroglyph, a cartouche can represent the Egyptian-language word for "name". It is listed as no. V10 in Gardiner's Sign List.
