Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/694

 658 AECHITECTUEE on Between this second row and the abacus are helices and tendrils, the latter supporting honeysuckles in the middle of the abacus, which member is about one seventh of a diam- eter in height, and in plan presents a square with concave sides whose angles are cut off at 45 its section presenting a fillet, on which reposes a cavetto and an ovolo separated by another fillet. The entablature is about 2J diameters in height, of which the architrave and cornice occupy separately rather more than one third, and the frieze rather less. The architrave is divided into three equal fascias, inclined inwardly sufficient to bring the outer edges in the same plane with the inferior diam- eter of the column ; these fascias together are crowned by corbelling mouldings, being one sixth of the entire height. The frieze is slight- ly inclined also and is sculptured. The projec- tion of the cornice is about equal to its height. The bed mouldings have about two fifths of this projection, and occupy five eighths of the entire height of the cornice, undercutting the soffit. Their principal feature is a dentilled member, more than one quarter of the whole cornice in height. The height of the corona is only three eighths of the cornice, and nearly one third of this is taken up by the crowning ovolo and fillet. In this example the cornice is surmount- ed by a cut fascia supporting antefixse, some- what similar to those employed on the flanks of Doric and Ionic temples. The intercolum- niation is 2^ diameters. In the example offered us at the Acropolis of Athens the caryatides stand on a stereobatic dado, placed on the sty- lobate; the ant bear the mouldings of the temple to which they are attached, forming base mouldings to the dado, which has also a cornice. The entire height of the stereobate is about three fourths of that of the figures, taken together with their base and capital ; the former is a square tablet or plinth, the latter a circular moulded block crowned by an abacus. The entablature is about two fifths of the height of the figures, and is nearly equally divided between architrave and cornice. The upper of the three fascias of the architrave is orna- mented with circular disks. The cornice is composed as usual of bed mouldings, corona, and crown mouldings, the former with dentilled member forming about two fifths of the whole height. The researches of Mr. Penrose have proved that all the horizontal lines of the Greek temples were curved, and that most of the plane faces inclined either out or in. These refine- ments were evidently intended in part to coun- teract certain obvious ocular illusions, but some of them are difficult to account for. Similar refinements are found in mediaeval and modern work. III. ETRUSCAN ARCHITECTURE. The polygonal formations observed in the walls of Etruria belong to the Pelasgic civilization, and are similar to those of Greece and of Asia Minor. The commercial relations existing between the Etruscans and the Hellenes of Greece and Magna Grsecia account for the existing simili- tudes in their artistic productions. The ceilings of the hypogea, hewn so as to represent cais- sons, tend to corroborate the idea that their earliest structures were of wood, which, with them as with the Greeks, became the archetype of their structures in stone. To the Etruscans the invention of the arch, constructed on its true principles, has been generally attributed, as likewise the composition of an order styled Tuscan, a species of simple Doric, no entire example of which, however, has been be- queathed to us by the ancients. IV. ROMAN ARCHITECTURE. The history of Roman archi- tecture under its kings and at the beginning of the republic is somewhat obscure, as but few of the monuments of that period remain. The Roman kings fortified the city, and erected various palaces, temples, and tombs. It grad- ually became adorned with colossal works of art, whose grand features, forming such a con- trast with the comparative insignificance of its power and condition, would seem to indicate that the future of imperial Rome had been foreshadowed to its people. The early Ro- mans employed Etruscans in their works. After conquering Greece, Rome became en- riched with the spoils of Athens and Corinth. The Greek artists sought protection and pat- ronage among their conquerors, and adorned the imperial capital with structures which call- ed forth unbounded praise. The Grecian style was blended with the Etruscan during the more early period of the Roman school. But as the arch, which was the characteristic feature of Roman architecture, revealed its treasures, the Grecian elements were employed only as a system of ornamentation. Thus, oftentimes, the column no longer served as a support, but was merely used to decorate the pier or wall from which the arch sprang. Great discussions have arisen as to who were the inventors of the arch. In Etruria are found many monuments wherein its design exists, and which are of an anterior date to the construction of the cloaca maxima (wherein it is fully developed), and even to the foundations of Rome. It is probable that the Romans borrowed it from the Etruscans, who may have followed eastern examples, but that it owed its useful application to Rome. With its introduction came various important modifications in architecture. Arches were substituted for lintels. With the assistance of the arch great spaces could be covered, and the various combinations of vaulted ceilings naturally ensued. The early Roman structures were of stone. Subsequently the mass of the constructions was of brick, externally decora- ted with slabs of marble, and similarly decora- ted internally, together with stucco work. Bricks seem to have been used by the Romans, partly in consequence of the facility offered by this material for the construction of the arch, and partly because they had but little marble. Stone, terra cotta, bricks, and marble were in- geniously put together in various ways. The edifices of the Romans display a taste for the