Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/692

 656 AKCHITECTUKE Tuscan. Doric. Ionic. Corinthian. Composite. almost universally employed by the Greeks in the construction of their temples ; and certain- ly monumental art does not furnish us with the equal of a Greek peripteral temple. The Grecian Doric may be divided into three parts: the stylobate, the column, and the entablature. The stylobate is formed by three receding courses, together about equal in height to the inferior diameter of the column, which dimen- sion is generally used as a measure of propor- tion in describing the orders. On the upper- most course stands the column, from four to six diameters in height, and whose diameter at top is about three fourths of that at base ; the shaft, thus assuming a conical shape (which diminution, in a slightly curved line, is styled entasis), generally bears 20 shallow flutes, their sections forming segments of circles, or similar curves which meet and form a sharp anis. At the base these flutes detail on the pavement; they pass through the hypotrachelium, or necking, and terminate beneath the annulets of the capital, either in a straight or curved line. Upon the shaft is placed the capital, nearly one half of a diameter in height, composed of an abacus, or square tablet, about l diameter in width and one fifth in height. This member is supported by the echinus, of about the same height when there is a necking, but occupying a greater proportion when none exists. This echinus or ovolo bears three, four, or five rings at the bottom, where it dies away in the shaft. The axes of the columns were slightly inclined. According to Villeroi, in a rectangular temple, planes passing through the centres of the col- umns would meet in a straight line ; in a point, if the plan of the temple were square; the columns at the angles following in both cases the direction of diagonal lines. This inclina- tion does not commence until the second course, or about one tenth of the height of the column, if monolithic. The first course being an ob- lique truncated cone, determines the angle of inclination ; the remaining courses forming the column are upright truncated cones, perfectly adjusted one to the other. The inclination of each column is proportional to the distance, to the line joining the foci if the monument be rectangular, or to the centre of the plan of the edifice if square. Thus the columns at the angles are the most inclined, those in the mid- dle of the sides the least. The entablature, about two diameters in height, is subdivided into three parts: the architrave, the frieze, and the cornice. The architrave occupies about two fifths of the whole height, being perfectly simple, crowned by the taenia or con- tinuous fillet, one tenth or one twelfth of its entire height ; below this fillet, under the tri- glyphs, there is a regula, of less height, from which depend six cylindrical drops. The face of the architrave is generally in a vertical plane tangent to the base of the columns. The frieze, of about the same height as the archi- trave, is terminated on top by a projecting fascia, occupying about one seventh part of its whole height, which breaks around the tri- glyphs, where it is slightly increased in depth. Horizontally, the frieze is subdivided into tri- glyphs and metopes, which regulate the inter- columniation in the following manner : A tri- glyph about one half a diameter in width is placed exactly over the middle of each column, and one in the intervening space. They are separated by the metopes, which in width are equal to the entire height of the frieze. This distribution differs, however, at the angles; here the outer edge of the triglyph is in the same perpendicular line with the circumfer- ence of the base. Thus the first intercolum- niation, counting from the angles, is contracted. The Greeks also gave a greater diameter to the columns at the angles. The triglyph is sub- divided into two glyphs, each one fifth of the