FINIAL, in architecture, the decorative upper termination of a pinnacle, gable end, buttress, canopy or spire ; especially in the Romanesque and Gothic styles. It usually consists of a vertical pointed central element surrounded by four outcurving leaves or scrolls. When the form it decorates has crockets (q.v.) the finial may be formed of four or more crockets surrounding the central uprights. Finials in the form of candelabrum shafts occur fre quently in early Renaissance work. The term is also applied loosely to any small pinnacle, knob or other decorative feature terminating a verticle motive (see EPI). (See illustration, p. 25o.)