Fragment of Doric frieze with metope and triglyph

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In classical architecture, a metope is a rectangular architectural element that fills the space between two triglyphs in a Doric frieze, a decorative band of alternating triglyphs and metopes above the architrave of a building of the Doric order. Metopes often featured painted or sculptural decoration; the most celebrated example are the 92 metopes of the Parthenon marbles some of which depict the battle between the Centaurs and the Lapiths. The painting on most metopes has faded, but sufficient remnants remain to allow a precise idea of their original appearance. A triglyph is an architectural term for the vertically channeled tablets of the Doric frieze in classical architecture, so named because of the angular channels within them. The rectangular recessed spaces between the triglyphs on a Doric frieze are called metopes. The raised spaces between the channels themselves (within a triglyph) are known as femur in Latin or meros in Greek. In strict adherence to classical architecture, a set of guttae, six triangular "pegs" below, always accompany a triglyph above (and vice versa), and this pair of features is only found in entablatures of buildings employing the Doric order. The absence of the pair effectively converts a building from being in the Doric order to being in the Tuscan order.