 Ionic cornices were often set with a row of lion's masks, with open mouths that ejected rainwater.From the Late Classical period, acroteria were sometimes sculptured figures (see Architectural sculpture).In the three orders of ancient Greek architecture, the sculptural decoration, be it a simple half round astragal, a frieze of stylised foliage or the ornate sculpture of the pediment, is all essential to the architecture of which it is a part.