Page:A history of architecture on the comparative method for the student, craftsman, and amateur.djvu/222

 164 COMPARATIVE ARCHITECTURE. FOUNTAINS. Fountains, both public and private, have always been one of the most striking features of both ancient and modern Rome on account of their graceful designs, rich material, and the soothing effect in a hot and low-lying city of the clear water sparkling in the sun. The public fountains were exceedingly numerous, amounting to many hundreds, either as large basins of water (laciis) or as spouting jets (salieiites), or the two combined and ornamented with marble columns and statues. Private fountains existed in great numbers, mainly in the courts and gardens of the houses, and exhibit much variety of design. They were of colored marbles and porphyries, often decorated with bronze statuettes. In some the water issued in jets from fishes, shells, or other objects, sometimes supported by a figure of a nymph. In others, wall niches lined with glass and mosaics were provided with lions' heads, from which issued the water, as have been found at Pompeii. 4. COMPARATIVE. A. Plans. — Designs have refine- ment and beauty, proportion being of the first importance, and there is a dignity and grandeur of effect irrespective of the smallness of scale. Unity was attained in the self- contained temples, while variety of grouping and some pictur- esqueness was attempted in the Propylasaand Erechtheion (Nos. 18,26,30). Purity and severity of outline caused by the simple method of post and beam, did not lend itself to such variety and bold- ness of planning as resulted from the arcuated Roman style. No mixture of constructive prin- ciples occurs in the buildings of the Greeks, the limits of whose style have not been yet success- fully expanded. A. Plans. — Designs convey an impression of vastness and magnificence, and are charac- teristic of a powerful and ener- getic race. The Romans were pre-eminently great constructors, and knew how to use the materials at hand. This con- structive skill was acquired by the building, on a large scale, of utilitarian works, such as the aqueducts and bridges. The arch, vault, and dome were the kevnotes to the whole system of the style, and constituted a step toward Gothic architecture. By the use of the arch, wide open- ings were rendered possible, and by vaults and domes large areas and complicated plans could be roofed (Nos. 58 and 59), giving boldness and variety and leading to the system of intersecting