Page:History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 1.djvu/250

 218 HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE. Tart I, whether or not the example adduced is the right one, or the one which bears most directly on the subject. After all, perhaps, its principal defect is that it does not (how can a modern restoration?) do justice to the grandeur and beauty of the Avhole. Of all this splendor only one little fragment is now left. Beneath the platform of the Temple proper, one gateway still remains, which may certainly be taken as an example of what Jewish art became 'under Roman influence. It is the Gate Huldah, and consists of a long j)assage measuring 41 ft. in width. At the distance of 38 ft. from the face of the outer wall a splendid monolith supports four arches, dividing the vestibule into four equal compartments, each surmounted by a flat dome. All were originally covered with ornament, but one alone now retains it in anything like completeness. It would be diflicult to find a more curious illustration of what is sure to happen when people are employing a style Avhich is new to them, and which they do not understand. The ornamentation is of a class that does lin. Roof of one of the Coinpartmeiits of the Gate Huldah. (From De Vogii*'.) not belong to domed or curved surfaces at all. What is Roman is Avholly misplaced, but the vines and the foliage, which are Jewish, run through the whole and bind together a design which without them would be ridiculous. As the only specimen of a class it is curious. It is not, however, Jewish, and is so nearly Roman, that we cannot but feel that it is introduc(Hl here before its time in a history of the suc- cessive developments of architectural art. As it has been necessary to antici])ate the chronological sequence of events in order not to separate the temples of the Jews from one another, it iiiav be as well befoii'e proceeding further to allude to several temples similai-ly situated which apparently were originally