text:
Ancient Architecture
Ancient Hindoo Architecture
Hindoo Architecture, probably the most ancient that exhibits regular architectonical mouldings, is remarkable for its well defined character, for the distinct ground-plan of its temples, and for three different orders of pillars.
As its leading features arose from the peculiarities of climate and situation, it has rarely been introduced into any other country.
Impressed with the idea that the worship of an eternal religion should be conducted in imperishable temples, and in order to insure their being both airy and cool, the Hindoos constructed and excavated these edifices in the rocks. The temples at Tintali, Dasavatara, and the grotto palace of Siva, near Ellora, number among the most ancient. They are all constructed in the following manner.
VII. Plate 2: Indian Temples at Ellora and Elephanta
The entire temple being under ground, the ceilings are supported by pillars of three different sizes and forms, of various thicknesses, and more or less finished and elaborated. Some temples are so deep below the surface as to require two tiers of pillars, one above the other, as in the grotto temple of Indra Sabah at Ellora (pl. 2, fig. 2). All these pillars are entirely different from those in the Nubian or Egyptian temples. The temples receive no light except through the openings in front. The large pillars, or those of the first order, are square and plain, and from three to five and a half diameters in height. A few small fillets form a kind of base, and a fillet on the top constitutes a capital, upon which rests a sort of cornice, divided into three stripes, running from pillar to pillar. The higher pillars are of an octagonal form. Their base is composed of regular mouldings, and they have caps consisting of a fillet and torus, similar to the astragal of the Doric order, and probably its prototype, as it is supposed that the construction was introduced into the island of Crete from India, where the Indian cap was rounded to suit the round column. Similar pillars are found in the interior of the temple of Vishnu Karmah (fig. 4), and as supporters of the ceiling of the Kailasa, as well as in the grotto temple of Indra Sabah, near Ellora. This remarkable palace is 247 feet long, by 150 feet wide; and its height in the clear, divided by two tiers of pillars, is 47 feet. Some of the walls are supported by elephants cut out of very hard stone. The exterior is ornamented with sculptures (fig. 2). The elephant near the pagoda-like building in the centre of the drawing, is called Iravat, and is dedicated to the Indian god of the heavens.
The pillars of the second order have a very high base (pedestal), and a square cap. Specimens of this order are met with in the upper tier of the grotto temple of Indra (fig. 2); of Vishnu Karmah (fig. 4); and Eabana (pl. 3, fig. 15).
VII. Plate 1: Ancient Indian Temples and Pagodas
The pillars of the third order have a base composed of regular mouldings and a round cap formed of a double torus, divided by a fillet. Above the cap is an echinus, similar to the Doric cap; and above that, a small slab which supports the cornice. In some instances the base has no mouldings (pl. 1, figs. 6, 7). The columns in front of the Indra temple (pl. 2, fig. 2), the grotto temple on the island of Elephanta (pl. 1, fig. 7; pl. 2, fig. 3), the interior of the temple of Indra (fig. 5), and the grotto temple at Parashua Rama (pl. 3, fig. 14), present the best specimens of these pillars.
According to the different forms of pillars, Hindoo Architecture, in general, is divided into several periods, characterized in the following manner: 1st, The plain style. 2d, The decorative style. 3d, The elegant style. 4th, The meretricious style: The buildings of Tintali and Dasavatara, near Ellora, and the pyramidal temple (Pagoda) Visvisor, near Benares (pl. 1, fig. 4), a buddhistic building, belong to the first period. For the mythological history of these buildings the reader is referred to the division Mythology of this work.
The grotto temple of Siva and the temple of Vishnu Karmah (the heavenly architect), both at Ellora, are specimens of the style of the second period.
The Indra temple at Ellora, and the grotto temple on the island Elephanta, belong to the third period.
Temples, the outer walls of which are decorated in an architectonical style, belong to the same period, as for instance the grotto temple of Kailasa, near Ellora. This temple (pl. 2, fig. 1) dedicated to the god Indra, is considered the finest architectural mommient in Ellora. It is wrought out of a single piece of rock without any joints, and consists of three different portions: 1st, The entrance-hall with two wings. 2d, The chapel of Nundi. 3d, The main temple.
The entrance-hall, which begins at the tennination of the exterior courtyard, is wrought in the form of a screen with two wings. It is located on the west side, at the lowest part of the hill, which varies from 47 feet to 104 feet in height. The excavation is 247 feet long, by 150 feet wide. The space outside the entrance is 88 feet long, by 138 feet wide. This hall is adorned with pilasters. The interior contains five different rooms, three of which are situated one behind the other, and form a passage to which two large rooms are attached, one on each side; all three rooms are decorated with sculptures. Staircases lead to the upper floor, which has windows on both sides. This floor, by means of a bridge cut in the rocks, communicates with the temple of Nundi (the bull of Siva), which forms a square of 16 feet on each side. A door in the rear wall opens upon a second bridge 21 feet by 23, leading to the main temple, which is 90 feet high. The main temple entrance is formed by a portico with two porches leading to a peristyle, which communicates by staircases with the lower court-yard. The peristyle is 18 feet long, by 15 feet 2 inches wide, and 17 feet high. Four steps lead to the main temple hall, 61 feet long by 55 feet wide, and 17 feet 10 inches high. The ceiling of this hall is supported by 16 pillars. Two porches, one on each side of the hall, mark the approach to bridges forming a connexion with the main rock, in which the private rooms of the priests were built. Opposite the main entrance another portico leads to the sanctuary, which contains the statues of Indra and of Lingam; small doors on both sides of this portico open on a terrace surrounding the sanctuary, and communicating with five square chapels of different sizes, two of them projecting on the sides, and three in the rear of the temple. The height of the temple above the terrace is 50 feet. The court-yard which surrounds the temple contains a peristyle of pillars, in some places in two tiers. Near the bridge which leads from the entrance hall to the temple of Nundi are two colossal elephants, probably the leaders of those placed in the lower temple, apparently supporting it. Behind the elephants, ten feet from the smaller temple, stand two obelisks, 38 feet high, and 7 feet wide at the top, by 11 feet at the base; they are supposed to have supported lions.
Aurungzebe attempted to destroy these temples, by surrounding them with fire, and causing water to be poured on the glowing rocks; but the injury inflicted was only partial, and in some parts even the paintings on the walls have not been affected. Almost all temples of this description are cut out of a single rock. The most remarkable are at Mavalipuram, in the province of Mysore (pl. 1, fig. 1), called the seven pagodas, the smallest of which, decorated inside and outside with inscriptions illegible even to the Brahmins, is 24 feet high by 12 feet wide. To the second pagoda is attached a gallery formed by two tiers of columns. The columns in one tier rest upon bases composed of lions lying upon a double plinth, and the caps are formed by equestrian statues which support the architrave. These pagodas are estimated by the Bramins to be 4800 years old.
The fourth period is that of pagodas when no more rock-cut temples were constructed. The pagodas are overloaded with ornaments and grotesque sculptures, and are remarkable for their arrangement, as well as for the highly elaborated metallic work attached to them. The most important are found at Chalembaram in the kingdom of Tanjore, and at Madura or Tretshengur. Those in Tanjore form the entrance-portico to the large temple district of Chalembaram, dedicated to the god Vishnu.
Below the largest pagoda (pl. 1, fig. 2) is a colonnade of slender columns, in which is placed a statue of the bull Nundi, consecrated to Vishnu, cut out of a single block of stone (monolith). Another monolithic statue of the bull Nundi is found before a small tower-like temple near the pagoda of Madura or Tretshengur (pl. 1, fig. 3), which was cut in the quarry of Tanjore, about 60 miles distant; it is 16 feet long, and is estimated to weigh about a hundred tons. The lower story of the pagodas is constructed of granite blocks, the upper story of burnt bricks. As a specimen of the elaborate sculptures of these buildings the trimmings of a window of the large pagoda are represented on pl. 3, fig. 13.
For the better understanding of the ancient Hindoo temple architecture we annex a general description of the temple district of Chalembaram.
A quadrangle of 1230 feet by 960 feet is surrounded by a double brick wall 30 feet high and 7 feet thick, faced with freestone slabs, which forms the peribolus or inclosure of the whole of the temple buildings. Each side has an entrance, a pagoda (pl. 1, fig. 3) constituting the pylon (gateway). The pylon or pagoda is constructed of stone for about 30 feet of its height, the remaining 120 feet being built of brickwork, anchored with copper clamps, and plastered with cement. The ornaments of the brickwork on the upper part are in better preservation than those cut in the stone.
The pagoda forms a passage to the court of the temples. On each side of this passage stands a column, resting upon a base moulded into the figure of a lion, the capitals of which are connected by a stone chain, cut out of the same piece with the columns, composed of 29 movable links, each 32 inches in circumference; and consequently, the block from which the two columns and the chain were cut, must have been about 60 feet long. There is a staircase in the pagoda leading to the top.
About one third of the court of the temples is portioned off by a wall into a quadrangular space, which contains three dark cells connected together, the stone ceilings of which are supported by pillars, all decorated with sculptures. The largest cell contains an image of Vishnu, to whom it is consecrated. In front of this smaller court is situated the pool of purification, where both sexes bathe.
The main temple, with a portico bordered on either side by three rows of columns, six in each row, which are covered by sculptures, and whose capitals are very similar to the ancient Ionic, which were probably borrowed from them, is located on the right hand side in the fore part of the court-yard, and surrounded by various colonnades. It is composed of the pronaos or ante-nave, the main nave, and the sanctuary, which contains a picture of the bull Nundi, and also a statue of Parvati, the consort of Vishnu. The situation of this statue gives rise to the supposition that this temple was Consecrated to that goddess. On the left of the temple is a colonnade of 100 columns, covered with a stone ceiling, leading to a small dark building on the opposite side, designed for the use of the priests. At the left of the pool of purification stands the temple of eternity, surrounded by 1000 monolithic columns 30 feet high, with a ceiling partly of stone, partly of cemented bricks. This colonnade, one of the most remarkable constructions in existence, is 360 feet long by 210 feet wide, and offered to the three thousand priests, who passed here almost all their time, a cool and airy promenade at all hours of the day and night. The temple itself is small. It contains an ante-nave and a main nave, with a plain altar covered with gold leaf. The inscriptions upon the walls are unintelligible, even to the Brahmins.
There is much difference of opinion as to the age of the ancient Hindoo buildings. A careful examination of the different theories on the subject inclines us to place it at about 2500 years before Christ.
Egyptian Architecture
Egypt, which, from the time of Sesostris, 1700 years B. C. to the Persian war, about 600 B. C, extended over Bactria, Ethiopia, Abyssinia, and Lybia, offers the most remarkable and important monuments for the study of the history of architecture, in her very numerous temples, palaces, pyramids, obelisks, and hypogea (under-ground buildings); and Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus, Pausanias, and Strabo certainly do her no more than justice in declaring that she surpasses all the nations of the earth in the magnificence and grandeur of her architectural monuments.
The style of architecture known as the Egyptian originated in the northern districts of Æthiopia and in Nubia, and was introduced to the lower districts of the river Nile by Egyptian colonists who migrated from Meroe under the command of some priests, and settled below the last cataract. The temple of Jupiter Ammon, between Thebes (the ancient metropolis) and Fezzan, the obelisks near Axum, and others, are evidences of the correctness of this statement. Pococke, Burkhardt, Beechey, Belzoni, and Gau are the best authorities on the history of Egyptian architecture.
VII. Plate 4: Egyptian Temples and Tombs
The island of Philæ, about three miles from the city of Syene, above the last cataract of the Nile, which is here about 15,000 feet wide, is about 1156 feet long by 404 feet wide, and surrounded by a wharf built of square blocks. It contains the mausoleum of Osiris, a congeries of temples disposed according to the form of the island, which is shaped somewhat like the portion of a gun-stock from the butt-end to the place of insertion of the barrel, the smaller end pointing up the stream. At the southern extremity is situated a smaller temple, to which a large court-yard is attached, surrounded by porticoes leading to the two first pylons or propylæa (large temple entrances between tower-like buildings of considerable height) (pl. 6, fig. 9). These propylæa lead to the fore court of the temple of Osiris. On the west side of this court stands another temple, on the east the dwellings of the priests, and towards the north are the second propylæa (fig. 9, a perspective view of the fore court and the surrounding buildings). The second propylæon leads to a smaller yard, which, surrounded on three sides by porticoes, forms the fore hall of the temple of Osiris. Pl. 4, fig. 6 presents a perspective view of the hall, with the entrance to the large temple. The several parts of this series of temples differ considerably, not only in dimensions and proportions, but also in form and details.
The columns of the southern temple, the smallest monuments of Egyptian architecture, are not over 15 feet high, by 2 feet 3 inches in diameter. The capitals support cubes ornamented by four heads of Isis in relief, one on each side. The western temple is surrounded by a portico on all four sides.
The porticoes were covered, and had a pillar at each comer, with 19 columns between each of them. The Grecian porticoes being similarly arranged, were probably borrowed from these.
Near the southern temple commences a wall, in front of which runs a portico 228 feet long, formed by 32 columns richly ornamented with sculptures. On the opposite side of the fore court (the western) is a similar but shorter portico of 16 columns, which are 16 feet high, the proportion between the diameter and the height being as one to six. The capitals are ornamented with palm leaves, and the ceilings and the main cornice are covered with hieroglyphics. At the northern end of the fore yard are two lions in a recumbent position, cut out of red granite, and behind them stand two obelisks of the same material, decorated with hieroglyphics. These obelisks are immediately in front of the first propylæa, which are 118 feet long by 50 feet high. The hieroglyphics, composed of figures 21 feet high, are cut in a recess, so that the most prominent parts do not project beyond the surface of the propylæum. Besides the western temple, the most recent of them all, which was built 2500 years before Christ, there is in front of the priests' dwelling, on the eastern side of the second court-yard, a portico of 10 columns (pl. 6, fig. 9, and pl. 4, fig. 6) 23 feet 8 inches in height, and 13 feet in circumference. These columns, together with the ceiling and cornice, are decorated with hieroglyphics, and the capitals with designs derived from the foliation of plants. The portico is lighted by a skylight. The main temple of Osiris is divided into several compartments of about 19 feet in height. At the extremity of the temple is the sanctuary, with the statue and tomb of Osiris. The slabs in the ceiling are 15 to 16 feet long, by 3 to 4\(\frac{1}{2}\) feet in thickness and width, and of about 17 tons weight each.
The very remarkable sculptures of this temple show that the Jewish law-giver, who was conversant with the forms of the Egyptian religion, to a certain extent adopted its symbols in the Mosaic system. These hieroglyphics represent the cherubim, the ark of the covenant, the vessel in which Osiris came to Egypt, and the table with the sacred candlesticks and the show-bread.
Besides the above-mentioned temples, the island of Philæ contains on the east side of the temple of Osiris the rains of another temple, the columns of which measure 40 feet, or more than any other upon the island. The cubes between the capitals and the architraves are remarkable for their height, which is more than a diameter of the column, a proportion greater than in any other monument. Among the ruins of a smaller temple on the south side of the island columns are found not more than 11 feet in height. All the aforesaid temples are built of a kind of whitish sandstone, which is almost as durable as granite, although the rocks of the island itself are composed of red granite.
A portico of four columns and a few walls, all richly decorated with very elaborate sculptures, are the only marks of the spot once occupied by the city of Syene. The island of Elephantine contains the rains of two temples, both of the same style of architecture. The one to the south is still in very good condition (pl. 4, fig. 1); it was consecrated to Kneph, the good spirit. Pl. 5, fig. 1, represents the plan of the large temple of Apollinopolis Magna (Edfou) on the left bank of the Nile, between Syene and Esneh, which, before the French expedition, was almost unknown. This temple was consecrated to Horus or Arueris, the Egyptian Apollo. Fig. 2 shows the longitudinal section, c k; fig. 3, the elevation of the propylæa, a a; fig. 4, a section through the fore court, with a view of the fore hall or pronaos; fig. [5], caps and cornice from the long portico, e; fig. 6, the central part of the entablature in the elevation of the pronaos.
The entire edifice consists of:
An inclosure whose front side is formed by the propylæum, a a, with the entrance, c, in front of which the two obelisks, b, b, are erected.
The peristyle or the first fore-court, d, with the porticoes, e, e; the court has the appearance of a staircase of twelve steps, so as to make each succeeding column shorter than the other by the height of a step.
The pronaos, f, with six columns in the first row, and eighteen columns all together, all very beautiful; here commences the main wall of the temple, which is constructed with buttresses, and between it and the outer wall on each side are small side courts, l l.
The fore hall of the temple, g, with twelve columns, which through the passage way, h, communicates with the rooms of the priests, and with the staircases.
The sanctuary, i, behind which different other rooms are located.
The length of the temple is 484 feet, the front of the propylæa 212 feet, and the front of the main temple 145 feet. The circumference of the large columns is 20 feet, that of the capitals 37 feet. The length of the temple by itself is 300 feet, the width of the propylæa 150; their height is 75 feet, the depth 24. The width of the fore-court, d, in the clear is 75 feet, exactly equal to the width of the pronaos, f, and consequently all the proportions harmonize. The length of the temple is eight times the height of the pronaos, four times the height of the propylæa, and twice their width. All the different apartments are lighted by skylights. The two stories of the propylæa are furnished with inner staircases, and are lighted by openings in the wall and in the ceiling. Grooves are cut in the front walls of the propylæa to receive the triumphal flagstaffs.
All the walls, outer as well as inner, all the columns and entablatures, and almost all the ceilings, are covered with highly elaborate symbolic sculptures and hieroglyphics, which are still in very good condition. Some of the capitals in the form of vases, decorated with palm leaves and date branches, are of uncommon beauty, and are symmetrically arranged. From the striking resemblance of the leaves and volutes to the Corinthian capitals, we might not unreasonably suppose the latter to have been modelled after them.
Near this large temple is located a smaller one consecrated to Typhon, the evil spirit, not more than 74 feet long, 45 feet wide, and 23\(\frac{1}{2}\) high. One of the ornamental sculptures shows that at the time when the temple was building the summer solstice was in the sign of Leo; the temple, therefore, must have been erected about 2500 years before Christ.
On the island of Masuniah, about six miles below Apollinopolis, are situated the famous rock-cut tombs of Silsilis (pl. 4, fig. 7), constructed on the same principle as the Persian tombs. They form very deep grottoes, to which architectural fronts are attached. In these grottoes are found two large inscriptions cut in the rock, and set in a frame of hieroglyphics, representing the different labors of agriculture, fishing, hunting, the vintage, and cattle breeding, and therefore of some interest for the study of Egyptian manners and habits (See History: Plates, Division [III], pl. 1, figs. 2–10). One of the grottoes is 24 feet long by 12\(\frac{1}{2}\) feet wide, with an arched ceiling.
There is another group of temples at Latopolis (Esneh). Pl. 4, fig. 5b, shows half the elevation of the pronaos of that temple which is in the best preservation. The pronaos is a hall with 24 columns; those in the first row, up to about half their height, are connected by walls. A somewhat narrower temple situated behind this hall, is surrounded by a colonnade of 29 columns, with massive pillars in the corners. The lintels are 21 to 25 feet long by 6 feet wide. All the walls, the ceilings, and the columns are decorated with sculptures relating chiefly to Osiris. A little more to the north is another temple, but in a rather bad condition. According to the representation of the zodiac on the ruins, the temples at Latopolis must have been erected 2600 years before Christ.
Opposite Latopolis, at Contralatopolis, is a temple, the columns of which are 19 feet high by three feet in diameter. Near Hermonthis (Ermeut) are the ruins of a temple which was erected about 2000 years before Christ, of materials previously used in another temple, a fact proved by the appearance of the ashlars, which contain fragments of hieroglyphic inscriptions, having been cut down from larger blocks of stone.
The city of Thebes, the ancient Diospolis Magna, was situated upon both banks of the Nile, and surrounded by a wall 60 feet thick, furnished with 100 gates. Here are found a large number of edifices important for the study of architecture. In giving a description of the most celebrated of them, we first notice the ruins of a very large racecourse (hippodromus) which extended 75,000 feet in length by 3000 feet in width, and was surrounded by a brick wall. It covered about 6,250,000 square fathoms, and therefore was about seven times as large as the Champ de Mars at Paris. There was a second racecourse of 5232 feet by 3234 on the opposite bank, the right bank of the Nile. The ruins of the palace of Sesostris, and of several temples and other buildings, are situated on the left bank of the river.
In the palace of Sesostris, erected about 1700 years before Christ, are three large courts, two of them surrounded by colonnades. The first propylæum is 192 feet long, 27 feet deep, and 66 feet high, and contains several rooms. Its vast entrance leads to an extensive court, bounded on two sides by galleries, and on the others by the first and second propylæa. The northern gallery, which is roofed over, is composed of seven square pillars, six feet thick, with statues of Osiris before them 23 feet high; the southern gallery also has a ceiling, and is formed by eight round columns. The second propylæum leads to the second court-yard, which is furnished with galleries on three sides. On the eastern side are eight columns, and opposite each column stands a square pillar with a statue of Osiris in front of it. Behind the gallery is a door communicating with the third court, which is separated from the preceding by; a wall. The third court-yard, which was probably surrounded by the dwelling of the king and the royal family, is completely destroyed. A door in the south side of the gallery most likely led to a second building. The columns (pl. 5, fig. 8), the walls, and the ceiling are covered with hieroglyphics and sculptures, representing the famous expeditions by land and sea of Sesostris, the Egyptian hero, and introducing very often the statue of himself, sometimes riding in his triumphal car, at others slaying his enemies with arrows; but the most remarkable are the representations of a sea-fight, in which the foe are represented as Indians, whilst in the battle scenes on land they are depicted with beards, and therefore are intended to represent Persians. The bas-reliefs in the peristyle represent the triumphal expedition of Sesostris to Arabia, after his numerous victories, as related by Diodorus Siculus.
The world-famed palace of Memnon at Thebes, called the Memnonium, or, by the Romans, Temple of Serapis, one of the most wonderful monuments of the ancient world, has been so effectually destroyed by time, that, notwithstanding repeated investigations, not a single portion of the building itself has been discovered. Still, the colossal statues between the palace of Sesostris and the mausoleum of Osymandias corroborate so far Strabo's description of it, as to remove any doubt that the acacia wood near Medinet Abou occupies the site of the ancient Memnonium.
The colossi of Tamy and Shamy are the most attractive of a large number of fragments of colossi in the acacia wood, numerous enough to decorate all the squares of a large city. Two of them, the northern and the southern, are represented on pl. 6, fig. 5. Almost all these colossi are formed of limestone or sandstone, granite, or breccia, a material which the Egyptians alone have ever been able to work into statues. The northern of these two colossi, which were probably the largest statues in the Memnonium, is covered with hieroglyphics and with inscriptions in Latin and Greek, proclaiming that the colossus at sunrise emitted a sound somewhat like the breaking string of a harp or a guitar. Cambyses caused this statue to be overthrown and destroyed, for the purpose of examining its internal construction, and of finding out whether the reputed sounds were not a deception practised upon the people by the priests. It is not improbable that the effect of the sun upon the stone was so powerful as to cause a vibration of its surface. Similar sounds are said to have been noticed by the French engineers in the granite apartments of the palace at Carnak. The mutilated portion of the colossus was rebuilt by five courses of sandstone, and the ancient head replaced upon it by the Romans. The statue and base were 48 + 13 = 61 feet high, and weighed about 750 tons. The southern colossus, also somewhat defaced, is formed of a single block of breccia, and between its legs are placed three smaller statues.
The mausoleum of Osymandias is another monument worthy of mention, as it contained 16 colossal statues of Osiris, 29 feet 2\(\frac{1}{2}\) inches high, and the statue of Osymandias represented in a sitting position, 53 feet 10 inches high, several feet higher than the largest of the Memnon statues. It was cut out of rose-colored granite, contained about 11,965 cubic feet, and weighed about 1,000 tons. After standing for 2000 years, in the year 523 b. c. this statue was thrown down by Cambyses. Opposite to this was another smaller statue, likewise in a sitting position, which, according to Diodorus Siculus, represented the mother of Osymandias. The second peristyle of the building contains columns of 35 feet 9 inches in height, by 7 feet 6 inches diameter, modelled in a higher style than those in the palace of Sesostris, though the latter was built 800 years after the former. In the second court was a statue of black granite, with a beautiful rose-colored granite head, all in one piece 22 feet high. The head is at present in the British Museum. The bas-reliefs on the exterior walls represent battle-scenes, war-chariots, and attacks upon the enemy's position, who retreats swimming to his reserve on the opposite bank of a river.
Besides the monuments on the left bank of the Nile already mentioned, there were about forty royal tombs, catacombs, or hypogea, only twelve of which can be entered at the present day. They were rock-cut, and are highly interesting on account of their bas-reliefs and fresco paintings. The tombs themselves are generally ranged in different tiers, one above the other; the lowest are usually the most elegant, while those in the upper tiers are very plain. Pl. 5, fig. 12, shows a ground-plan of one of the largest. In front of the entrance are large fore-courts, which communicate by galleries with the extensive apartments, the largest of which is about 600 feet long, entirely rock-cut. The walls and ceilings are decorated with sculpture-work and fresco paintings, representing vases, furniture, musical instruments (flutes, harps, lyres, &c.) of the most elegant forms, girls dancing to the music of the harp, hunting and fishing scenes, rural occupations, naval scenes, vintage, weighing of goods, a large dinner party seated at a well supplied table, and a court of death. One of the catacombs contains a representation of a royal throne, which most minutely corresponds with the description of that of king Solomon given in 1 Kings x. 19, 20, which was therefore in all likelihood copied from the Egyptian throne. On one of the ceilings a zodiac is painted, by the position of the sun in which it is inferred that the temple was built 1700 years before Christ. Some of the catacombs contain fragments of arches. At the present time they are almost destroyed, and the mummies, divested of their coffins, lie mingled promiscuously together.
It seems to be not out of place here to correct a very prevalent error respecting the art of fresco painting. The term fresco painting, an ancient Egyptian invention, means a painting produced by a chemical preparation of the mortar before and at the time of putting it on the walls, so that it may be affected neither by atmospheric influence nor time, and that the painting executed ages ago may appear as fresh in color and as correct in outline as if done but yesterday. It has nothing at all to do with the object represented or with the beauty of the design, as shown by the great variety in the above mentioned representations. The art of fresco painting is entirely lost to the moderns, and the attempts made in different parts of Europe to rediscover it, sometimes at extravagant outlay, particularly in Munich and in Berlin, have, after several years' experiments, turned out entire failures. It is either simply ridiculous and a proof of ignorance, or an intentional fraud on the public, to dignify by the name of fresco the common water color or oil painting, such as covers the walls and ceilings of our theatres and other public buildings, whatever may be the subject they represent.
On the right bank of the Nile we see the ruins of a palace near the village of Luxor (El-Kusr), standing close to the river upon a platform about nine feet above the surrounding ground, about 2200 feet in length, by 1100 in breadth, and fenced in with brickwork. The ruins consist of a large number of columns, the circumference of some of which is 18 or 19 feet, and that of others about 30 feet, 9 inches. Three obelisks, and the extensive propylæa represented on pl. 6, fig. 8, indicate a royal palace. In front of the palace was a double row of colossal sphinxes, about 200 in number, which led to the temple, the ruins of which are near the village of Carnak. This avenue of sphinxes is terminated by two obelisks, which, a few years ago, were still standing; they are of unequal dimensions, but both are monoliths of the red granite of Syene. The one on the left hand side, without the point (which is 7 feet long), is 77 feet 7\(\frac{1}{2}\) inches high, its base being about 6 feet 3\(\frac{1}{3}\) inches in width. The other, without the point of about 4 feet, is 72 feet 6\(\frac{1}{3}\) inches high, with a base of the same dimensions as the first; it weighs about 352,276 lbs. The bases on which the obelisks were placed were of different heights, for the purpose of equalizing the general height of the shafts. The form of these obelisks shows the thorough knowledge of optical effect possessed by the Egyptians. The plane surface of a very slender body, when exposed to a bright sun, appears to be rounded towards the edges. To avoid this, they gave the surfaces a convexity of 15 lines, and this had the effect of making them seem flat, for otherwise one of the edges would have appeared like one half of a cylinder, very bright, and the other entirely dark.
The viceroy of Egypt, Mahomed Ali, presented the two above mentioned obelisks to the king of France. The westerly one was taken down by M. Lebas in the year 1833, and transported to Paris, where it has been erected in the Place de la Concorde. The labors attending the removal began as early as 1829, and the whole work thus took four years. A very interesting model of the progress of the work in all its stages is preserved in the Naval Museum in Paris. The remaining obelisk is intended for the city of Marseilles. Behind the obelisks there were formerly two colossal statues of red and black granite intermixed; but both these monoliths have been destroyed. They were about 42 feet 3 inches high. Between the propylæa, which are 75 feet high, a doorway of 52 feet 4 inches in height leads to a large court yard surrounded by a peristyle. The propylæum is decorated with bas-reliefs, representing warlike scenes. In the court-yard are located the houses of the village of Luxor, the yard being about 169 by 138 feet, with a covered colonnade of 76 columns, 27 feet 7\(\frac{1}{2}\) inches high. The second propylæum opens to the roof of that colonnade, where the inhabitants were wont to pass the night under tents. The passage from this court to the third propylæum is by a gallery of 14 columns remarkable for their height and thickness, being 10 feet 6 inches in diameter by 62 feet 7 inches in height. They are composed of stone rings filled up inside with bricks, mortar, and cement, with capitals 16 feet 11\(\frac{1}{6}\) inches at the top by 10 feet 9\(\frac{1}{3}\) inches below, and shaped like an inverted bell. The architrave is composed of stone blocks, each 18 feet in length. The third propylæum opened into a court with a double peristyle of 44 columns in four rows, connected with a portico of 32 columns, to which the side building is attached. The several courts do not lie in a line, the first forming with the large gallery an angle of 3° 9′, which circumstance would indicate that the different parts of the building were originally separate, and afterwards connected by the above mentioned colonnade of 14 columns. This palace, according to Diodorus Siculus, was built by king Busiris about 3100 years before Christ.
VII. Plate 5: Temple, Palace, and Catacombs
The village of Carnak, to the north-east of Luxor, contains the most extensive and magnificent ruins in the Thebaid, and even in the whole of Egypt. Of these, the palace of Carnak, the plan of which is represented on pl. 5, fig. 7, is the most extensive. Pl. 4, fig. 4, gives a view of the first court with the second propylæum; pl. 6, fig. 7, the large hall. This palace, which was situated about 2400 feet from the Nile, was surrounded by a wall 7052 feet long and 30 feet thick, one half of which still exists; the dimensions of the bricks are 12, 6, and 5 inches. From the first propylæum, or from that side of the palace that faced the Nile, there were two rows of sphinxes forming an avenue to the river. Two of the sphinxes are still in existence; they have the body of a lion and the head of a ram, and a symbolical cover enveloping the chest and back. They are placed upon a plinth 12 feet by 3\(\frac{1}{3}\) feet, and 7 inches high, which rests upon a base 10 feet high, and finished with a cima recta. The front, or the propylaeum of the palace, is 347 feet 10\(\frac{1}{2}\) inches long, and 154 feet high. The sculptures upon it are unfinished, and mere rough sketches. In each wing of the propylæum are eight windows in two rows, which correspond with four perpendicular recesses to receive the triumphal poles, like those at the temple on the island of Philæ. In front of the ruins of the entrance are the remains of two colossi in a sitting position, similar to those at the palace of Luxor. The entrance, 20 feet wide, was 60 feet in the clear, and 80 feet high to the top of the cornice, and was closed by bronze folding doors. In the interior of the propylæum staircases led to the different stories, which contained several rooms. This colossal propylæum leads to the fore yard (pl. 5, fig. 7f), 315 feet 5 inches by 252 feet, with a row of columns on the south and north sides. The latter row, consisting of 18 columns, is in comparatively good preservation, and in connexion with the wall behind it, forms a colonnade covered with stone slabs. The entablature rests upon cubes, which are placed upon the capitals. These columns, represented in pl. 4, fig. 4, on the left, are 6 feet, 1 inch, and 10\(\frac{1}{2}\) lines in diameter, and 27 feet, 8 inches, 5\(\frac{2}{3}\) lines in height. The distance between them is somewhat less than the diameter. No bas-reliefs have been found, and the colonnade appears to have been left in an unfinished state. The southern colonnade, eight feet wide, is divided by a building (pl. 5, fig. 7, g) which was probably a temple, a view of which is given in pl. 4, fig. 4, to the right. The frieze of this gallery contains two rows of hieroglyphics. In the centre of this court there were two rows of colossal columns, each consisting of six. These have all been prostrated, except the last but one in the southern row, but the shafts are not broken. The rows were 42 feet apart. The columns, the most slender in Egypt, except those at Philæ, are composed of single pieces, each 1 foot, 10 inches high; the full height is 65 feet, 8\(\frac{2}{3}\) inches, with a diameter of 9 feet, 2 inches. The greatest width of the capitals is 15 feet, 4 inches, 8\(\frac{1}{2}\) lines, their circumference being 46 feet, 2 inches. The shaft and the cube upon the capital are covered with hieroglyphics. Whether the space between the two rows of columns was covered, and if so, whether the ceiling was formed by beams of cedar or by a tent (velarium), is a question that has not yet been decided. The French writers are of opinion that statues of the gods were placed upon the columns, and that they did not support any ceiling at all. The temple (pl. 5, fig. 7 g), a portion of the large palace, projects into the court f, 36 feet, and had a propylæum 67 feet, 11 inches long, which is very much dilapidated. The central line of the temple is not strictly perpendicular to that of the palace, from which it has been inferred to be of greater antiquity, an opinion which is supported by the fact that the temple is completely finished and covered with hieroglyphics, which are found in no other part of this court. The fore-court has a peristyle, with statues of Osiris in front of the columns; and the court leads to the pronaos, the ceiling of which is supported by eight columns ranged in two rows. This temple, which was probably the private chapel of the palace, is 160 feet long by 65 feet wide. The large court, f, contains the ruins of the second propylæum, in front of which were two granite statues. The southern one of these, a monolith, is still in existence: it is 21 feet high, and represented in the act of walking. Seven steps lead to the entrance of the propylæum, which was 20 feet wide, 63 feet, 5 inches high in the clear, and 91 feet to the top of the cornice. It is the largest in the world; the folding-doors were of bronze. The propylæum is nearly destroyed; nothing remains of it but the doorposts, which are decorated with bas-reliefs representing Horus, the symbol of the fructifying sun, and with paintings, the colors of which may still be traced.
The saloon or hall, e, 30T feet, 10 inches long, by 154 feet, 5 inches wide, the ceiling of which is supported by 134 columns, is the most astonishing and magnificent edifice of ancient Egypt. It has three divisions. The centre is formed by 12 columns 66 feet high without the entablature, by 11 feet in diameter, the capitals being 10 feet high, 21 feet in diameter, and 64 feet in circumference. All these columns remain entire. The two lateral divisions contain 61 columns each, 40 feet, 6 inches in height, and 8 feet, 6 inches in diameter. The row of smaller columns nearest to the larger ones supports a stone wall with six openings, protected by stone lattice-work, through which the hall is lighted. The ceilings are constructed of stone slabs, ahnost all of which are 28 feet long, 8 feet wide, and 4 feet thick, weighing about 65 tons each. The architraves are 24 feet long, and 6 feet thick. The shafts of the columns are constructed of courses each 3 feet, 2 inches high, and each course is composed of four pieces, all of them covered with hieroglyphics and symbolical sculptures in recesses. Pl. 5, fig. 11, represents one of the capitals of the large columns; pl. 6, fig. 7, the central portion of the hall, with the view into the second court. Pl. 5, fig. 9, shows another style of capital found in this palace. The capitals of the 122 smaller columns are similar to the column of Medinet-Abou (pl. 5, fig. 8), but larger. The ruins of this temple most distinctly show that the stones used in the construction of the palace of Carnak had formed portions of some other building, another proof that long before the erection of those buildings, the ruins of which are now before us, other and similar edifices had been built in Egypt, and destroyed by time.
This hall led to the third propylæum, decorated with symbolic hieroglyphics and bas-reliefs. The entrance door of this propylæum, 49 feet high, leads to a corridor, fig. 7, a a, which runs round the interior rear part of the monument. Close to the entrance are seen two obelisks of red granite, whose bases are about 5 feet, 7 inches above the present floor, their entire height being 61 feet. They probably measured 70 feet in height from the original floor; their tops are 3 feet in width, by 9 feet in height. The northern has been prostrated and broken, while the southern is still in good condition. Behind these obelisks is the fourth propylæum, which contained a square fore-hall, leading into a gallery, d, d, about 80 feet long, by 58 feet wide, with a double row of pillars, at the base of which statues of Osiris are standing. In this room two obelisks were placed, which were among the largest in Egypt, and both monoliths of granite. The southern one is lying broken, whilst the northern one remains in tolerably good condition. It stands 73 feet, 7 inches, 9 lines high, above the rubbish, its entire height being 91 feet, 10 inches. At the base it is 8 feet, 1 inch thick, and where it projects from the rubbish, 7 feet, 7\(\frac{1}{2}\) inches. It is the highest obelisk of the ten still existing in Egypt, and its weight is about 375 tons.
From the above-mentioned galleries a fore hall of about 18 feet by 37 feet, 6 inches, leads to a dilapidated wall with granite door jambs, probably the ruins of a small propylæum. Two doors lead to two different halls, the walls of which are decorated with highly elaborated symbolic sculptures. In front of the sanctuary (fig. 7, c) were two truncated obelisks (steles), 7 feet, 7 inches high, which probably served as pedestals for busts. A door between them leads to the granite apartments, the walls of which are covered with well finished and painted bas-reliefs, frequently representing Horus, the son of Osiris and Isis. The blue color is still. quite fresh and brilliant. The ceiling, constructed of granite and sandstone blocks, is decorated with yellow stars, with red centres on an azure ground. To some of these granite apartments small chambers were attached, decorated with sculptures representing the inauguration of kings by the priests, and sometimes the sacred boat. It is generally supposed that none but the kings and priests were admitted into these chambers. In the granite apartments the French engineers frequently noticed sounds similar to those attributed to the statue of Memnon; they always seemed to originate from the granite ceiling, which probably vibrated in consequence of the sudden changes of temperature, the nights being very cold, and the days exceedingly hot. About 500 feet behind the granite apartments are found some more ruins (fig. 7, b), which probably constituted a portion of the palace. They form a hall, the centre ceiling of which rests on 20 columns arranged in two rows, which are surrounded by a peristyle supporting a lower ceiling; the whole being a miniature copy of the large hall (pl. 5, fig. 7 e) probably the room in which the inhabitants of the palace held their meetings. Behind this is another hall, 88 feet long by 49 feet wide, the columns of which are remarkable on account of their 16 flutes, and probably gave the idea of the Doric column. Besides these mentioned above, the palace contained a number of smaller rooms. According to Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus, this palace was built at the time of king Busiris II. that is, about 4500 b. c.
Several other ruins are situated at the southern and northern ends of the inclosure of the palace, but they consist of little more than a few woman-headed sphinxes with the bodies of lions, the number of which originally amounted to about 60; among them the largest in the Thebaid (See History, Plates, Division [III]. pl. 3, fig. 32).
The ruins of Tentyra, or Denderah, which occupy an area of 2300 feet by 2400, and contain the northern temple, the temple dedicated to Typhon (Typhonium), the large temple, and the southern temple, are classed among the most elegant specimens of Egyptian architecture. The northern temple, not over 50 feet by 34, is peripteral, with 14 columns, and has not been completed. The Typhonium, a temple dedicated to the evil principle, also peripteral, is 105 feet by 55 feet, and similar to the temple at Edfou. Leaves of the lotus and other plants ornament the capitals, whose cubes show on all four sides the image of a typhon, enveloped in lotus leaves. Another Typhonium of great interest is situated on the mountain of Barkal. It is partly excavated in the rock, and contains two rooms. In the first, or pronaos, next to the propylæum, the architrave is supported by four rows of pillars, four in each row; in front of each pillar is a statue of the god Typhon, supporting a kind of cushion, upon which the architrave rests. Pl. 4, fig. 8, shows a perspective view of the interior of this pronaos.
The large temple of Tentyra was 245 feet long, by 128 feet wide, and 55 feet high. The entrance door is 15\(\frac{1}{2}\) feet wide, and the ceiling of the portico (pl. 4, fig. 5a) rests upon 24 columns ranged in four rows, the capitals of which are composed of four heads of Isis, which support a cube, on the faces of which temples are represented (pl. 5, fig. 10.) The colossal head is partly hidden by a drapery painted with longitudinal stripes, exhibiting lotus leaves and pearls. The sculptures upon the cube represent offerings to Isis, who is nursing her son Horus. All the columns are covered with hieroglyphics. The door jambs, like the building itself of sandstone, are framed in by the centre columns; the head-piece over the door is of granite. The walls of the portico are inclined on each side, to the extent of 10\(\frac{1}{2}\) feet. The rear portion, or the main temple, is about ten feet lower than the portico. It contains a ceiling painted with yellow stars on a blue ground; and also the famous zodiac, explained in the mythological part of this work. This zodiac is cut in stone; it begins with the lion, and ends with the scarabaeus in place of the crab, the constellations ranged around it. On the ceiling of the portico, are similar decorations executed in painting. The two comer pillars on the front (pl. 4, fig. 5a), are ornamented with four rows of bas-reliefs representing the offerings of gifts to Osiris and Isis, the former of whom is represented sometimes with the head of a boar, sometimes with that of a sparrow-Lawk, or of a falcon. On the inside of these pillars are figures 15 feet high; and from each side-wall of the temple project the heads and half the length of the bodies of three lions. The wall between the front columns is ornamented with bas-reliefs representing offerings to Isis. In one of the rooms are sculptures relating to the death and resurrection of Osiris, probably a symbolical allegory of the decay of vegetation in the dry season, and its renewal after the inundation of the Nile.
Upon the terrace of the main temple stands another smaller temple, a circumstance unique in Egypt; its columns are copies on a smaller scale of those of the main temple.
The southern temple of Tentyra presents nothing of particular interest. Judging from the zodiac, the monuments of Tentyra were built about 2500 years before Christ.
Two colonnades, which are scarcely accessible, mark the site of the ruins of Abydos, where Memnon had a palace, and Osiris a temple. They are ornamented with sculptures, and the ceilings are painted with yellow stars upon an azure ground. Further down the river we find the ruins of Antæopolis, composed of a large temple, with its inclosure, and on the west a temple with a quay-wall towards the Nile. Pl. 4, fig. 1, represents the ruins of the large temple of Antæopolis. The portico of 18 columns, ranged in three rows, was 135 feet long and 45 feet high. The ruins, which are in a very dilapidated state, are situated in a date grove; and the capitals of the columns are ornamented with date leaves. One hundred and eighty feet distant from the portico is a monolith temple of limestone, 15\(\frac{1}{2}\) feet high. According to a Greek inscription upon the architrave, the temple was rebuilt by Antoninus and Verus.
On the ruins of the ancient Besa the emperor Trajan erected a city, which in honor of his friend Antinous he called Antinopolis or Antinoe; and the ruins of this city being therefore of a more recent date, present some of the characteristics of Grecian and Roman architecture. The remains of the theatre contain Corinthian columns (pl. 4, fig. 2). Below Antinoe, near Sandah and Beni Hassan, are rock-cut tombs, one of them containing fluted columns, 3\(\frac{1}{2}\) feet thick and 7 diameters in height, with 15 flutings, undoubtedly of ancient Egyptian origin.
The catacombs of Alexandria (pl. 5, fig. 13 a plan, and fig. 14 a section of the catacombs) contain eight Doric columns, which support the arched ceiling of the centre room, to which the four mausolea are attached.
VII. Plate 6: Pyramids and Monuments
The pyramids deserve the name of eternal abodes of the deceased as well as the rock-cut tombs. These structures are of Egyptian origin, although they are met with in India and in Nubia, for instance near Assur (pl. 6, fig. 4), and even in Egypt they have only been erected in the district of Fayum, and in the tract of the Libyan mountains, which is at j)resent occupied by the villages of Gizeh, Sakkarah, Dashour, Megduneh, and El Metanjeh, near the ancient Memphis and Busiris. Of late it has been surmised that they were intended for astronomical purposes, as the direction of the different passages in the interior has been observed to correspond with certain astronomical lines. King Mœris seems to have been the first to erect buildings in pyramidal form; for on digging the lake which is called after his name, he built some large structures of this kind in the very middle of it (pl. 6, fig. 1). Much later, about 1000 b. c., Cheops built the largest pyramid near Memphis, the present Gizeh; the second was built by his brother Chephrenes; the third by Mycerinus, son of Cheops; and Asychis, his successor, erected the fourth. These, together with three smaller pyramids dedicated to the queens of the above-mentioned kings, and to the daughter of Cheops, are known as the group of Gizeh (fig. 2). The pyramids at Sakkarah and in the other places were built about the same time with the others. In the neighborhood of the group of Gizeh is situated the far-famed colossal Sphinx (fig. 6). Fig. 3 shows a section of the largest pyramid at Memphis. The pyramids were constructed either of bricks or of stone. The fourth pyramid, and those in the lake Mœris, belong to the former class, and have been almost destroyed; the latter, which was originally 240 feet high, being now not more than 180. The majority of them were constructed of limestone, which was found in the vicinity, or of Trojan or Ethiopian granite. Some of them exhibit pieces of yellow and red marble. With very few exceptions, the edges of the pyramids are directed towards the four quarters of the heavens. The proportion between the extension of the base and the height seems to have been strictly regulated; the line from the base to the top is not always straight, being in some instances curved, in others broken by ten-aces of different heights; the one near Sakkarah having six terraces of equal height. Some of them run to a point at the apex, while the tops of others are formed by platforms of different sizes. The dimensions of the pyramids are also equally various. According to the report of Girard, the pyramid of Cheops was 699 feet, 9 inches long at the base, and 425 feet, 9 inches high; the pyramid of Chephrenes, 655 feet base, by 398 feet in height; those of Sakkârah are a little smaller.
Herodotus informs us that it required the labor of 100,000 men during ten years to construct the embankment for the transportation of the stone blocks to the pyramid of Cheops, and afterwards the same number during twenty years to erect the pyramid itself. The latter operation was conducted by first building one terrace, and then raising all the materials for the next one, up to this; the angles between the terraces being filled up, and the surface of the pyramid smoothed afterwards. The construction of the large pyramid of Memphis (fig. 6, view, fig. 3, section) is as follows: The first course of stones rests upon the main rock, and was imbedded in it to the depth of seven or eight inches. The rock was then cut so as to form a plinth, five feet high, which is 100 feet above high water of the Nile. Above the first course of stones are twenty others cut into steps 9\(\frac{1}{2}\) inches wide to one foot rise. The two upper-most courses have been destroyed; and the whole height, plinth and top included, is nearly 450 feet, the base being 716 feet in length. Each block is fitted into the adjoining one without the least irregularity, the lower stone receiving in a groove two inches deep, a projection of the upper one of the same size. The four angles of this pyramid point exactly to the four quarters of the globe, a thing not easily done even at the present day; it establishes, however, one remarkable fact, viz. that during the thousands of years which have elapsed since the erection of this pyramid, the position of the axis of the earth has undergone no change whatever.
The entrance to the pyramid is at present on the north-eastern side, upon the 25th course, and about 45 feet above the base. It is represented on pl. 6, fig. 3. Having been closed with brickwork it was only accidentally discovered. A gallery sloping downwards, leads to a passage 3 feet, 5 inches in width and height, and 102 feet long, the entrance to which was blocked up by a large piece of granite which could not be removed, but a passage has been made around it. At the extreme end of this gallery is a platform, and on the right hand side a well cut in the rock, about 200 feet deep, but without water, even as low as 50 feet below the level of the Nile. Its extreme depth has, however, not been reached. At this floor a level passage branches off, about 118 feet in length, which leads first to a room called the queen's apartment, which is 11 feet 10 inches in length, by 16 feet, 1 inch wide, and empty; second, to another gallery, 125 feet long, 25 feet high, and 6\(\frac{1}{2}\) feet wide. On each side of this are benches 21 inches high by 19 inches wide, and at the end is another platform, communicating with another opening, 3 feet, 3 inches wide, 4 feet, 5 inches high, and 7 feet, 10 inches long, forming the entrance to the upper room of the king, which is 32 feet wide, 16 feet long, 18 feet high, and covered with polished granite, the southern side being the longest. At the western end is the granite sarcophagus, 7 feet, 1 inch long, 3 feet, 1 inch wide, 3 feet, 6 inches high. It is empty, and lies due north and south; the lid is wanting.
Near this pyramid is situated a figure of the Sphinx (pl. 6, fig. 6). It is cut from the rock on which it stands, and is still connected with it. Its height to the back is about 40 feet, and it was necessary to remove masses of rock to lower the surrounding ground, in order to exhibit its foil dimensions. The figure is 117 feet long; the circumference of the head is 91 feet, the height from the belly to the top of the head 51 feet. There is an opening in the head in which the head-dress was fastened. The French, during the expedition to Egypt, after removing the surrounding sand by which it was covered up to the neck, discovered an opening between the fore legs of the figure, which soon proved to be a regular entrance, communicating by subterraneous passages cut through the rocks with the large pyramid. This accounts for there being no outer entrance to the pyramid, and for the different branches of the afore-mentioned galleries being secured by blocks of stone from the opposite side. At the same time also, it proves that the ancient Arabian authors were not mistaken in asserting that the different galleries and wells in the pryamid communicated with an entrance through an opening in the figure of the sphinx.
From this short account of the remains of ancient Egyptian architecture an idea may be derived of the state of civilization of the nation which created it. Our highest admiration is due to the noble monuments of the talent, industry, and perseverance of a people, who maintained for hundreds and thousands of years an imposing style of architecture, uncorrupted and unchanged, and to whom the other nations are indebted for the transmission of the written alphabet, and for many valuable principles and ascertained facts in Geometry and Astronomy. It cannot be a matter of wonder that such a people should have spread its dominion over a vast territory, and have important colonies on the Euphrates, in Greece, and in other countries, and that its genius should have influenced the most talented and eminent men of ancient Greece.
Assyrian, Median, Babylonian, and Persian Architecture
The city of Nineveh, situated on the banks of the river Euphrates, was the metropolis of the kingdom of Assyria, which originally comprised the tract of country bordering on the rivers Euphrates and Tigris. But the Medes and Babylonians afterwards declared themselves independent, and formed two new kingdoms. The chief city of the former was Ecbatana, of the latter, Babylon. After the destruction of Nineveh and the incorporation of the kingdom of Assyria with that of the Medes (600 b. c.), the kingdoms of Babylon and Media were continually contending with each other, until they were both conquered by the Persians, under Cyrus, the founder of the great Persian Empire.
Nineveh, which almost exclusively furnishes the materials for the study of the architecture of the Assyrians, has only within a very short time been excavated from the rubbish by which it had been covered for ages. According to Herodotus, it was built in the form of a quadrangle, which was 40 geographical miles in length, by 13 miles in breadth. It was inclosed by a wall wide enough for three chariots to drive abreast, 100 feet high, and containing 1500 fortified towers of 200 feet in height. This wall was probably built of sun-dried bricks, since the conquest of the city was rendered possible by the destruction of a large portion, in consequence of an inundation of the Euphrates. The most important remains brought to light by the latest excavations are some colossal sculptures from the royal palace (pl. 3, figs. 1 and 2).
Ecbatana, the metropolis of Media, and the summer residence of the Persian kings, was built by Dejoces 700 b. c., upon a hill which was fortified by seven terraces or walls of mason-work, each with battlements painted of a different color. Alexander the Great, according to Ælian, when his friend Hephgestion had died at Ecbatana, caused these walls to be pulled down.
Our knowledge of the history of Babylon is not quite so scanty as that of Assyria; still we are acquainted with but few buildings except those of the city of Babylon, a city whose erection is due to several sovereigns, and particularly to the two queens Semiramis and Nitocris. It was situated in a fertile plain on the Euphrates, and formed a square of 81 square miles, giving a circumference of 36 miles, surrounded by a wall, which according to Pliny was 200 feet high, and according to Strabo 32 feet wide, though others assert that it was 400 feet high by 50 feet in width. The two faces of the wall were of bricks laid in bitumen, thirty bricks thick, and strengthened by buttresses; the space between being filled up with bundles of reeds compacted by bitumen. This wall has been mentioned by us under the head of Military Sciences (Fortification), and a view and section of it given in illustration. (See Plates, Division V. pl. 42, figs. 12 and 13.) It had 100 entrances with metal gates, jambs, and lintels. There was a second wall inside the other. The river Euphrates divided the city into two parts, which were connected by several bridges, constructed of beams resting upon stone piers. The buildings were generally three or four stories high, and the streets crossed each other at right angles. The royal palace is situated on one bank of the river, and the temple of Belus on the other. The hanging gardens formed part of the palace grounds. They were erected by Nebuchadnezzar for his queen, who, as a native of Media, had a predilection for mountains. These gardens were laid out in a series of terraces constituting a hill 75 feet high and 1600 feet in circumference. The terraces were supported by walls 22 feet thick, and 10 feet apart, which were covered with stone plates 16 feet long, and 4 feet thick. Upon these plates was first laid a coating of bitumen, followed successively by a layer of bitumen and reeds, a double course of bricks in mortar, and finally a sheet of lead. The soil was then spread upon this substratum, of the proper thickness for the proposed plantations. The spaces between the walls formed large rooms for festal occasions, and were lighted from the projecting terraces. On the top was a reservoir, the water for which was drawn from the Euphrates by means of a hydraulic machine, and carried in pipes to all the different parts of the grounds. There was even a sufficient supply for a few fountains. The height of each terrace was 12\(\frac{1}{2}\) feet, and the width 64 feet.
The temple of Belus formed a square of about 600 feet in length, in the centre of which was erected a tower 300 feet square. This tower was composed of eight stories, and a staircase was led up on the outside. The uppermost story contained the temple hall, where a maiden favored by the god nightly slept. In the lowest story was another hall, in which stood a colossal statue of Jupiter 24 feet high, of massive gold. The throne with its steps, and the table before it, were likewise of pure gold. An altar of gold and another of stone were placed in front of the temple. These treasures were all taken away by Xerxes.
The principal feature of Babylonian architecture is its bold, massive character, and colossal dimensions. The water works of the Babylonians, too, were second in importance only to those of the Egyptians. Their fortifications are really surprising. The temple of Belus was as large as any of the pyramids, though not so difficult to construct, as it was built of bricks. The outer walls of the Babylonian buildings were either coated with bitumen and painted, or the surface of the bricks was glazed. Only a few works, chiefly the dams and sluices on the Tigris, were constructed of stone blocks, on account of the great distance they had to be carried. The arch was not known to the Babylonians. In cases where a frame ceiling could not be erected, they had recourse to immense stone slabs. Metal was frequently used, particularly for doors and jambs.
The Persians, who, before the time of Cyrus, were a people of inferior cultivation, and dependent on the Median kings, began to acquire a knowledge of the fine arts after they had invaded northern and western Africa and Egypt. Cambyses, together with the treasures which he carried home from Egypt, brought Egyptian artists to Persia, to build the royal palaces at Persepolis, Susa, and in Media. But no actual improvements in the arts were made in Persia; and they remained in the same condition in which they were when Cambyses and Darius first introduced them. Almost all the artists of Persia were foreigners.
The buildings of Ecbatana were mostly of brick laid in bitumen; marble or other valuable stones were used for columns and floors.
Pasargada was the most ancient fortress of the Persian kings, and Cambyses ordered the corpse of Cyrus to be brought thither, and an expensive mausoleum to be erected over it. The substructure was a square of stone blocks, accessible by seven marble steps; the main building was erected of timber and bricks. In the interior were the golden coffin of Cyrus, his golden bedstead covered with rich carpets, and a table of gold with the royal garments and arms. The building still exists, and is called the mausoleum of the mother of Solomon. It is 43 feet long, 37 feet wide, and 42 feet high. It is quadrangular, and has a gable roof.
VII. Plate 3: Ancient Architecture and Sculpture
The city of Persepolis was magnificent both in plan and in execution. Pl. 3, fig. 11, shows a portion of the royal palace. It was surrounded by three walls, the first 32 feet high furnished with battlements, the third 120 feet high, and built of stone. It inclosed a quadrangle, on the eastern side of which was the rock with the royal tombs, which had no proper entrance, being cut in the rock; the corpses were elevated by machinery, and thus deposited in their appropriate places. On one side of these ruins, which are about six miles from the ruins of Shehel-Minar, are fragments of two porticoes which stood at right angles to each other, and formed an entrance to a larger flight of stairs leading to another portico, composed of a double row of six pairs of columns, behind which was situated a spacious court-yard surrounded by colonnades. The two first-mentioned porticoes had colossal pillars on either side, at the foot of which stood the fabulous animals which are represented on pl. 3, figs. 9 and 10. Fig. 9 somewhat resembles the Egyptian sphinx, but in Persia the head of a priest was substituted for that of a female. Fig. 10 was probably intended for a horse or unicorn, which is frequently mentioned in the Persian mythology. Between the two pillars were four double columns, the bases of which are shown in figs. 7 and 8. The capitals were formed as in fig. 5, surmounted by horses (fig. 6), which supported the entablature in the manner represented in fig. 12, where unicorns replace the horses. The capitals of the second portico were plain (figs. 3 and 4). The porticoes had ceilings of stone-slabs.
The fronts of the royal tombs, known as the ruins of Nakshi Kustam, were built of a hard dark stone, in large blocks, very closely jointed; and the columns were of white marble. Figures in bas-relief, with inscriptions in arrow-head writing, decorate the walls. Fig. 12 shows the elevation of one of these tombs, the entrances of which were blocked up after the corpse had been deposited. It has not yet been ascertained whether there was any means of access by an inner passage. The figures upon the walls represent, besides mythological animals, long arrays of warriors making war upon lions, unicorns, &c., evidently under the command of the king, whose likeness is often introduced. The tomb in fig. 12 is that of Darius. It exhibits a high, splendid scaffolding, supported by curiously-shaped figures of the unicorn, and between them two tiers of telamons, or pilasters shaped like men, supporting a weight on their raised hands. Two priests on duty stand at the foot of the scaffolding, and guards are drawn up on each side. Upon the scaffolding is the altar with the sacred fire, in front of which, elevated by a few steps, stands a figure with one hand leaning upon a bow. The other hand is upraised, and the face gazing towards the fire. Above, between the hearth and the worshipper, is a soaring figure, only half visible, which in the right hand holds a wreath, whilst the left is lifted as if in benediction. Behind it is seen a globe suspended over the fire. The figure with the bow represents the king under the protection and in sight of the divine beings, Oromasdes and Mythras, worshipping the sacred fire.
Persian Architecture bears traces of its Egyptian origin throughout; in the selection of building sites, in the style of ornaments of the door caps, the decoration of the walls, in the character of the sculptures, in the inferiority of their drawing, and in the practice of representing the person of the king always taller than all the others. After Darius had invited Grecian artists to Persia, the monuments of that and of the following ages frequently bear traces of Grecian designs. The best proof of this is the elevation of the mausoleum of Darius, and all its details.
Grecian Architecture
VII. Plate 7: Illustrating General Considerations of Architecture
The first structures devised by man for protection against the weather were huts half sunk in the ground, with the upper part formed by posts covered with earth and leaves on the outside, and on the inside with the skins of the animals which had supplied food for the inhabitants of these structures (pl. 7, fig. 1). The inconveniences of these primitive dwellings soon became manifest; they not only did not afford sufficient accommodation for the increase of families, but they offered very indifferent shelter from wind and rain. To remedy these disadvantages was the next step, and the enlargement of the capacity of these structures led to the use of more substantial materials. Instead of posts they took whole trunks of trees, and entirely inclosed the site of the intended building, placing them close together either in a horizontal or perpendicular position. Other trees were put over these to form a ceiling, and thus originated log houses. From the great consumption of wood it soon became necessary to observe economy in its use, and the perpendicular logs began to be separated by intervals, connected only by horizontal pieces. A similar change was made with those on which the roof rested. The latter were afterwards covered with boards and earth, and the openings between the perpendiculars were closed with a mixture of earth and loam (pl. 7, fig. 2). Such a building was not impervious to water. In order to obviate the leaks in the roof, a triangular frame was constructed, to which the boards of the ceiling were attached (fig. 3a). A structure of the above description, notwithstanding its rudeness in a scientific point of view, contains all the different parts of a modern building, viz. a roof composed of rafters, a tier of beams, and posts or supports underneath. Partly in order to protect the lower portion of the posts from the effects of rain, &c., partly from a taste for ornament, the idea was conceived of surrounding the lower part with a few extra boards, or else of setting the post on a support prepared for the purpose, instead of fixing it in the ground; and thus the base of the column originated. On the other hand, top pieces were laid upon the posts for the better support of the top cross-beams (the architrave of later buildings), and these top pieces were the germs of the abacus, or the blocks surmounting the capitals of columns. To protect the ends of the beams against the rain a board was fastened to them, in which little gutters were cut to allow the water to run off; thus arose the triglyphs. The spaces between the different beams were also filled up, and hence originated the frieze. Finally, to carry the water running from the roof clear of the beams, the rafters were made to project beyond the uprights, and a board was fastened to them, which formed that portion of an entablature afterwards called the cornice. Pl. 7, fig. 3b, exhibits a skeleton of such a building.
The above-described mixture of earth and loam used to fill up the intervals between the different uprights, was soon found to be too frail to protect the inhabitants from the weather, or from the attacks of wild beasts, much less from the assaults of their human foes. They were therefore obliged to seek some other material, and they very early began to make use of stones, which were found almost everywhere in large quantities. The use of this new material being once commenced, in a remarkably short time people began to employ it not only for their dwellings, but also for marking the divisions of lands; and not only did they manage stones that were easily portable, but large blocks of extraordinary dimensions. Their walls, which were put together without any cement whatever, are known as Cyclopean constructions, and to this day they command our admiration and surprise. Almost all the earliest strongholds were surrounded by such walls, the strength and durability of which are evidenced at Tiryns, and several other places. At a later period the interstices between the larger blocks were filled up with smaller stones, and gradually the stones were hewn square, and good workman-like walls, like those at Messene, were constructed. The entrances at this period were mostly pyramidiform, and in some we can trace rudiments of towers of defence. This form of construction passed through various phases of development into the regular bound masonry, or construction with rectangular blocks of stone; but for the substructure polygonal blocks, or rectangular ones with bevelled edges, were retained through almost all periods. The bound masonry was in time superseded by brick-work. We find, then, in ancient times the following manners of construction:
The irregular work, opus incertum (pl. 7, fig. 7), constructed of stones of various shapes, but of about the same size, and cemented with mortar.
The flat square work, opus quadraturn (fig. 8) of the Greeks, where the surfaces of all the stones are of equal size, and rectangular.
The facetted square work, as in the forum of Augustus (fig. 9), and in the tabularium (fig. 10), where the faces of the square blocks project, the edges being bevelled off; the joints are thus sunk in.
The net-work, opus reticulatum (fig. 6), where Only the corner blocks are set horizontally, all the others being laid diagonally.
Brick-work in even courses, opus isodomum (fig. 11), where all the courses are of the same thickness.
Brick-work in uneven courses, opus pseudisodomum (fig. 12), where thick and thin courses alternate.
In constructing very thick walls, the two outer faces only were laid symmetrically, the space between being filled up with mortar and small stones; such walls were called filled walls, emplecton, and of these there were three different kinds:
Where the two faces (fig. 13 aa) are built without any connexion, and the space, b, between them is filled up.
Where the bricks in the faces are laid alternately as headers and stretchers (fig. 14, upper part), the latter thus affording a firmer connexion of the two faces, by projecting into the rubbish between them (fig. 14, lower part).
Where some of the bricks are stretched through both faces of the wall. Walls of this description are even constructed nowadays, but they ought always to be considered as very inferior work.
VII. Plate 19: Greek and Roman Capitals and Bases
The Column. After the walls were built of stone, the wooden posts of course soon gave way to stone pillars. These were at first short, and therefore in a single piece; but it soon became necessary to have them longer than single stones could conveniently be procured, in consequence of the increased height of the buildings, and they were then constructed of several disks (tambours) placed one on the other. The quadrangular pillar, however, in no long time must have become offensive to the eye accustomed to the circular forms of trees, and the stones were rounded to form the column. After a time, the upper part of the column, or more properly the block which was placed on the top to afford a better bearing for the beams, was moulded into an oval or convex shape, the echinus (pl. 19, fig. 1). To form a more tasteful connexion between the column and the echinus, a few horizontal stripes were made in the lower part of the top piece (pl. 20, fig. 9, left lower diagram), and another stripe was afterwards cut in some inches below, and so the neck of the column was formed. The mouldings of the stripes and of the echinus itself are sometimes a little different, as shown in the several Doric capitals (pl. 19, figs. 1, 2, 3). To give the column greater strength and stability, it was made wider at the foot than at the neck and capital, and to make it appear lighter it was channelled with perpendicular stripes, and hence the origin of the flutes. These flutes were sometimes put close to each other (pl. 19, fig. 1), or a small ridge was left between them (fig. 7). Sometimes the shaft was left: plain (fig. 4), and at a later period the column itself was decorated with foliated work (figs. 25, 26). Some of the Doric columns have flutes of a few inches in length close below the neck, and others of the same length at the foot, the remainder of the shaft being left plain (fig. 19, fig. 2). Columns of this description, when first met with, were considered unfinished, but after they had been observed on monuments under circumstances which absolutely excluded the idea of an unfinished column, the opinion was established that they were purposely so formed, and these columns were called mantled columns. The introduction of human figures as supports of the entablature, instead of columns, was made at a later period, in order to convey the idea of the submission of the nations conquered by the Greeks, namely, the inhabitants of Caria and Persia. Hence the figures which represent females are called Caryatides (fig. 31), while the male figures are denominated Persians (fig. 30), and when naked Telamons. Buildings constructed with figures instead of columns are styled stalagmatic. In all the foregoing kinds of columns, which belong to the Doric order, the base of the column neither projects, nor is it moulded or decorated at all, the column standing immediately upon the ground (pl. 20, fig. 8).
The second kind of Grecian capital is the Ionic (pl. 7, fig. 22). It is more chaste and elegant than the former, and different accounts are given of its origin. Some think that as the capital is the head of the column, the volutes on both sides of the echinus are intended to represent the ringlets of an Ionian maiden; while others are of opinion, that some builder having casually placed a piece of bark between the echinus and the abacus, which upon drying became curled into a pleasing shape, this addition was afterwards imitated in stone (pl. 21, fig. 4). The profile (pl. 7, fig. 24) shows how the two volutes are connected by a kind of cushion; the echinus is small, and decorated with serpents' eggs (pl. 19, fig. 7). Columns of a very rich and elaborated character have a decorated neck below the volutes called hypotrachelium (pl. 19, fig. 6, a, b, and pl. 7, fig. 24). The Ionic column, being more slender than the Doric, always has a base.
The third class of Grecian capitals is the Corinthian. It is said, that Callimachus, a sculptor of Corinth, on observing some acanthus leaves which had grown up round a basket that had been left upon a grave, and had bent over after reaching the top (pl. 7, fig. 5), was so delighted with the beauty of the picture that he imitated it in stone for a capital, which became the prototype of the Corinthian capital. Egyptian monuments, however, show capitals so similar in shape to the Corinthian, and certainly much older, that it is probable that the Greeks did not invent what they found ready at hand to imitate; the more so as they brought most of their information from Egypt in colonizing their country. The Corinthian capital admits of a great variety of decoration (pl. 19, figs. 9–13), and there are scarcely two buildings of that order without some difference in the capitals.
The base of the Corinthian order is the same as that of the Ionic, but the column itself is more slender. The top of the shaft is always smaller in diameter than its lower part. In some cases the reduction is effected in a straight line from the base to the cap. Optical considerations have, however, led to the better plan of either giving to the lower part of the shaft, up to about one third of the height, an uniform diameter, the reduction then commencing, and being continued from thence upwards (pl. 20, fig. 10); or of giving it the largest diameter at the height of the human eye, and reducing it from this point both upwards and downwards (fig. 11). The greatest diameter of columns of the latter description is called the swell (entasis).
The columns are placed either on single stone cubes, or on a continuous plinth (stylobates). The space between the columns is styled the columnar distance, and varies very much. Different terms are applied to the various distances. If the space between the columns be equal to 4 diameters they are said to be placed distantly (aryostylos); if the space be equal to 3 diameters, widely (diastylos); if 2\(\frac{1}{4}\) diameters, beautifully (eustylos); if 2 diameters, closely (sistylos); and if only 1\(\frac{1}{2}\) diameters they are said to be thickly placed (picnostylos). As a general rule the two corner columns are for optical reasons placed somewhat nearer together than the others of the same row. Another contrivance, intended to correct an optical delusion with regard to colonnades, is mentioned by Vitruvius by the name of scamilli impares. According to this author on ancient Homan architecture, a row of columns standing on a substructure would, when viewed from a distance, appear convex, and elevated at both ends, and this effect would be averted by the scamilli. Unfortunately, all the drawings which might have illustrated the works of Vitruvius have been lost, and as, moreover, the ancient Roman buildings exhibit no architectonic moulding which seems to serve the purpose ascribed to the scamilli by Vitruvius, his commentators are greatly at variance in their explanations of the idea he means to convey. Most of these learned men agree in this, that the scamillus was a distinct moulding, which being placed above and below the column, would make it appear to recede. Some columns found among the ruins of the theatre at Laodicea seem to corroborate the correctness of this view. Pl. 7, fig. 19, shows one in connexion with the substructure and architrave, and figs. 20, a, b, one of a different order on a larger scale. We see here at a and b small mouldings inserted above the top of the capital and under the foot of the base. The latter is slightly higher on one side, producing the impression of a slight inclination in the column; the upper one has a similar excess of body on the opposite side, apparently levelling the slanting surface of the capital, and supporting the entablature with its full surface. But other authors say, that these small mouldings had no other object than to relieve the mouldings proper of the base and capital. Still others maintain that Vitruvius originally wrote camillum and not scamillus, and that he applied it to the columnar distances, which were to decrease as they receded from centre, and in proportion with them the pannels in the substructure (camilla) were to be reduced in size (fig. 15). One commentator, Bertanus, is of opinion that a moulding introduced in the base (fig. 16, c) would produce the effect ascribed to the scamilli impares; and another, Placentius, follows this view, but places the moulding as in fig. 17, d. Both make the mouldings a little higher at one of the sides. Blanconius, finally, explains scamilli impares as applied to the inequality of the side walls of the flights of steps leading to the colonnade, and supposes that the first ought to be the highest (fig. 18, g), whilst the following gradually become smaller to the top of the flight.
It would appear that none of all these views are entirely satisfactory. A better explanation of the whole subject seems to be afforded by the latest discoveries in re-surveying the Parthenon and the temple of Theseus in Athens. It was there found that the steps upon which the columns rest are slightly convex towards the centre, both in front and on the top, and the different blocks of which the columns are composed are not put together in horizontal joints, but are a little out of level so as to give the columns a slight inward inclination. The upper surface of the top block is again placed in exact level, in order to offer support to the architrave. This arrangement seems to serve the same optical purpose as the slight convexity of the surface noticed in the Egyptian obelisks.
The object of architectural mouldings generally is, either to separate the large masses of a building, or to form a connexion between the several distinct parts, and to protect by their projection the plane surfaces and recesses of the buildings. The mouldings are either straight or curved. Among the former we distinguish:
The fascia or stripe, a continuous even surface projecting from the main surface, and whose height must not exceed \(\frac{1}{3}\) to \(\frac{1}{2}\) diameter of a column.
The tænia or fillet, similar to the fascia, but only half its height.
The quadra or socle, which is very narrow, and is called the supercilium or slab, if it is at the uppermost moulding, or the cover.
The face or slanting plane, which connects two perpendicular surfaces in a diagonal line.
The curved mouldings exhibit a greater variety, viz.
The torus or cushion, which is nearly a semi-cylinder, somewhat pressed out at the lower edge.
The echinus or ovolo, which exhibits a curved outline nearly the reverse of the torus, being more swelled at the upper edge. It is an independent supporting member, whilst the torus serves as an assistant to other mouldings.
The quadrans or cavetto, whose outline is a quarter of a circle.
The astragalus or bead, which is a very narrow moulding of a semicircular outline, and generally serves to separate the capital from the main column.
The striæ or flutes, which are concave mouldings, whose outlines are segments of a circle, rarely a semicircle; they are wrought in columns or pillars, connecting the bases and capitals; on columns they are generally narrower at the top; sometimes the flutes are separated by ridges (striges).
The cymatium doricum or wave, whose profile is a concave quadrant; it is applied either erect or reversed; in the former case, the curve projects from the main surface, whilst in the latter it recedes.
The trochylus or scotia, similar to the last, but not exactly a quadrant, being composed of two different segments (pl. 20, fig. 14). It is applied both erect and reversed.
The apophygis or quirked moulding, a small acute channel or recess used between mouldings; the reverse, or the projection, is called apothesis.
The cyma lesbicum, or bell moulding, a combination of a concave and a convex quadrant; it is applied erect or reversed; in the former case the upper half projects, in the latter it recedes.
The different mouldings were in earlier times decorated with painted ornaments and this is even sometimes done at the present day, but at the flourishing age of the art bas-reliefs superseded the painting, and in all edifices of true merit bas-reliefs are still retained.
The columns are among the most important architectonic pieces, and as we have seen, generally composed of the base, the shaft, and the capital. The Doric column is without base, and is only placed on a plinth. For all the other orders, the Attic and Ionic bases are employed. The Attic base (pl. 19, fig. 22) is composed of a plinth, a torus, a scotia, a socle, and a second torus. The Ionic base (pl. 22, fig. 4) has a plinth, a scotia, and several dividing beads and fillets, a second scotia, a slab, and a torus.
The shaft, and the Doric and Ionic capitals have been described already. The Corinthian capital (pl. 19, fig. 13) is generally composed of two main parts. The first is the calathics or cup, whose ornaments present three different tiers; 1, eight acanthus leaves; 2, eight acanthus leaves with their stems (caulicoli); 3, four volutes with acanthus buds and leaves. The second main part of the capital is the abacus or top piece, whose mouldings are the wave and the erect bell. It has projecting, truncated corners, and its receding sides are ornamented with flowers. This refers, of course, only to the general type of the Corinthian capital, for its ornaments are infinitely varied.
The pillar (pila) differs from the column in its connexion with the wall, on account of which it has often been identified with it, though on the other hand, the pillar has many relations to the column, being often placed in the same row, for the same purpose of supporting the architrave or entablature. It receives similar decorations, particularly in the capital and base, sometimes even the reduction of size towards the top and the entasis. We distinguish the following kinds of pillars:
Pillars standing free on all sides.
Pillars which strengthen the corners of a wall (antæ).
Pillars which stand in place of door jambs (postes).
Pillars which project from the wall, either to mark the beginning of an adjoining colonnade, or merely to break the simplicity of the wall; these are termed pilasters (parastates).
Buttresses (anterides).
Short pillars, which serve as pedestals for columns (stybolatæ) (pl. 20, figs. 1–5).
The pillar is composed of a foot (spira), a shaft or cube (truncus), and of a capital (metopon), which is always somewhat lighter than the capital of the corresponding columns, with which its ornaments are generally in keeping.
The wall is the continuation of the pillar, and of course deviates still more from the characteristic features of the columns, because its object is not only to support, but also to inclose. Yet, like the pillar, it often receives a base and kind of capital, the cornice. Low walls occur partly as fences, in part as pedestals for the main walls, in which case they are called ashlers. Substructures of greater height and richer finish are termed stereobates or stylobate. They exhibit a distinct base, cube, and cornice (pl. 7, fig. 20, b).
Flights of steps are frequently introduced for the same purpose, to raise the building above the ground (pl. 20, fig. 8). If the steps are more than twelve inches in height, substeps are introduced in order to afford easier access (pl. 15, fig. 1).
The trimmings and decorations of doors and windows in the walls correspond with the entablature of the different orders. Thus we have
Doric doors, whose jambs and lintels are cymatium doricum, and astragalus mouldings, whilst the cornice has in addition an echinus moulding with considerable projections.
Ionic doors, having jambs and lintels similar to the Ionic architrave, divided in stripes (cordæ), and trimmed with an astragalus moulding (pl. 20, fig. 14). The lintel is surmounted by a cornice (hyperthyrum) resting upon two consols, anconesov parotydes.
The Attic door, similar to the Doric, with the addition of the Ionic stripes. The windows are surrounded and decorated with similar trimmings, generally somewhat simpler.
The entablature connects the supporting parts of the building with those which cover the same, and consists of three parts:
The main beam or architrave (epistylium). The Doric architrave is smooth (fig. 8), surmounted by a fillet whose face is divided by triglyphs, which pierce a socle (regula), ending in drops (guttæ). The Ionic architrave (pl. 7, fig. 24) generally is composed of three stripes (fasciæ), surmounted by a cornice of mouldings. Sometimes its lower surface between the columns is decorated with deep pannels and other ornaments (pl. 19, figs. 27, 28).
The frieze (zoë), which connects the different beams resting upon the architrave. The Doric frieze (pl. 20, fig. 8) is composed of triglyphs, which represent the ends of the beams, being laid on every column, and over the columnar distances. The triglyphs exhibit three ridges, separated by two deep grooves, and bordered by two smaller ones, the whole surmounted by a small capital. The spaces between the triglyphs are termed panels (metopes), which are generally smooth, but sometimes ornamented with bas-reliefs. The Ionic and Corinthian friezes (pl. 7, fig. 24) are quite plain, and finished with wave mouldings. If they are decorated with metal or stone ornaments they are termed zophorus.
The cornice (corona) is composed of the projecting mouldings which form part of the roof The Doric cornice (pl. 20, fig. 8) is formed by a Doric cyma, the corona projecting considerably, and containing the ends of the roofing boards (mutuli) with the heads of the nails, and is finished with a second cyma, and an erect bell moulding. The Ionic cornice (pl. 7, fig. 21) shows a fillet with dentals, sometimes also quite plain (fig. 24); above the dentals is a wave moulding, followed by the corona, which terminates in a slab and erect bell moulding. The Corinthian cornice (pl. 22, fig. 7) is similar to the Ionic, differing only in having small consols (mutuli) as bearers of the corona, which are composed of volutes and acanthus leaves. In all the different cornices great simplicity of decoration, and comparatively great height and projection, denote a great age of the monuments, whilst buildings of a later period show less projection, narrower surfaces, and frequently very elaborate decorations.
The plain ceiling, formed by a stone resting on the walls, occurs only in buildings of the very simplest description. The ceilings of temples and palaces were divided into deep panels (lacunaria), adopted from the architecture in wood, where they were often inlaid with gold and ivory. The wooden ceiling consisted of the beams resting upon the architrave, of the narrower and jointed cross beams, and of the caps covering the spaces between the cross beams. The same constrnction is imitated in stone, but in the latter material the different parts are usually wrought in one block.
The roofs of private dwellings were either flat, or pitched from the centre towards all sides, like a tent. Public buildings, particularly temples, had gables on the narrower sides of the building (pl. 7, figs. 21, front, 22, side view, 23, upper view in part). In Grecian buildings the height of the gable was about one eighth of the width of the building, in Roman buildings rather more. The gable or frontispiece (fastigium) is composed of the gable field, tympanum (fig. 21 a), which is frequently ornamented with statues and bas-reliefs, and of the cornice with the corona b, and the cyma c. The cornice of the gable is the continuation of the main cornice of the building, but is rim up over the top of the gable, instead of being continued on a level with the long cornice, which would place it at the base of the gable field, in a straight line. The corners and the top of the gable are decorated with masks (pl. 19, fig. 38) or flowers, or with pedestals for statues, both at the top (pl. 7, fig. 21, e), and at the sides (fig. 7, d, d). The slope of the roof is covered with flat marble slabs (figs. 22, 23, h), whose long edges form projecting ridges. These are placed close together, and the joints covered with semi-cylinders of marble, clay, or bronze, whose lower extremities terminate in handsome front tiles, antefixæ (pl. 19, figs. 34–37). Similar ones are sometimes placed on the gable cornice. The water is conducted from the roof by small gutters piercing the cornice in different places, the outer openings being in some of the ornaments as in f (pl. 7, figs. 22, 23), whilst the others, G, remain solid.
Having thus examined the various component parts of buildings, we now proceed to notice the different classes of edifices. They are first divided into those erected for the effect of their exterior, and those built with a view to certain advantages to be derived from their interior. Of the former we may again distinguish two kinds, those that are monuments in themselves deriving aid from pictures or inscriptions, and those that serve as substructures for other more emblematic works of art.
The simplest monuments of the former kind belong to the period in which architecture and sculpture were still identical, and which is represented by the hermæ (pl. 19, figs. 32, 33, the latter a terminal statue of Janus). Next in order are the tombs, frequently of chaste architectural forms, bearing inscriptions and bas-reliefs, and the horizontal tombstones. The second kind includes such single columns as were employed even in the most ancient Grecian temples, in order to give a prominence to the images, and the honorary columns which supported either the statues of distinguished men, or caldrons, tripods, &c.
Among the structures erected for the sake of the area they circumscribe belong inclosures of every description, walls of cities, castles, sacred grounds, and places of public meetings. The addition of a roof over the inclosure makes it a house.
The simplest house is the temple, at first only intended as a place for the safe keeping and protection of the image of the deity. The prominent character of the temple proper is the mysterious or awe-inspiring, and therefore it never had windows. The next thing was to give it a form, which would afford both protection and airiness, and for this purpose porticoes and colonnades were added. At a later period the centre portion of the roof over the inner temple was left open, which gave the interior a more roomy appearance. Formerly it had no other light than through the door.
VII. Plate 16: Temple at Baalbec and Other Greek and Roman Architecture
According to their different modes of construction the following temples are distinguished with regard to various points.
With regard to the position of the columns;
The temples in Antissa, with pillars under the corners of the gables, and columns between them (pl. 16, fig. 33);
The prostylos, temples with a portico in front (fig. 27);
The amphiprostylos, with a portico in front and rear (fig. 36);
The peripteros, temples with a colonnade all round the building (fig. 26);
The pseudoperipteros, temples with portico in front and rear, but half columns along the side walls (pl. 15, fig. 11);
The dipteros, temples surrounded by two colonnades (pl. 12, fig. 4);
The pseudodipteros, a temple with one colonnade round all the four sides, the distance between the columns and main walls twice the distance between the columns (pl. 12, fig. 8).
With regard to the number of columns in front,
Tetrastylos, temples with four columns (pl. 16, figs. 36, 38);
Hexastylos, with six columns (pl. 15, fig. 19);
Octastylos, with eight columns (pl. 16, fig. 16)
Decastylos, with ten columns (pl. 16, figs. 3, 14);
Dodecastylos, with twelve columns (pl. 16, fig. 15).
With regard to the distance between the columns, as described before (p. 26).
There are also circular temples, among which we distinguish:
The monopteros, whose columns are connected merely by railings (pl. 13, fig. 9);
The peripteros, with a colonnade all round (pl. 16, figs. 9, 12);
The pseudoperipteros, where the colonnade is only designated by half columns on the wall (pl. 9, fig. 5). Besides these there are circular and hexagonal temples with one or more halls (pl. 9, fig. 4; pl. 13, fig. 11).
VII. Plate 12: Greek Temples in Several European Countries
The different parts of a temple are the substructure with the steps (suggestus), and the temple proper, sometimes twice repeated in the same building (pl. 16, fig. 3), The latter generally exhibits,
The place for the statue, sometimes surrounded by a railing (pl. 12, fig. 2; pl. 16, fig. 14);
The space which is left unroofed (pl. 11, fig. 3, where it is surrounded by the innermost columns);
Colonnades in the interior of the temple somewhat elevated above the main floor, stoæ (pl. 15, fig. 2);
The sanctuary (adyton), sometimes wanting (pl. 11, fig. 11, towards the rear);
The fore hall (pronaos), the space between the front columns and the front wall (pl. 12, fig. 6);
A similar space in the rear of the temple, opisthodomos (fig. 8);
The colonnade, pteroma (fig. 11);
Attached to colonnades or porticoes (pl. 10, fig. 9, c), occurring only seldom.
A numerous class of ancient buildings are the amphitheatres (agones), open spaces surrounded by many gradually rising rows of seats. They were erected for the spectators at public games or combats. The theatres proper had the stage attached on one side of the circular area.
The odeons were erected for similar purposes with the theatres, but their stages were not so spacious, as only few persons acted on the same. The odeons had mostly permanent roofs, whilst the theatres were covered with large sim tents (velaria) as a protection against the sun and the dust.
The stadia, or racecourses, were of an elliptical form, and contained lists between which the horses ran, and a column (meta) marking the winning point. They were surrounded by an amphitheatre for the spectators. The hippodromes were similar structures arranged for chariot races.
The halls (stoæ) belong to the same class of buildings. They were erected for public meetings and business purposes, and were large inclosures protected against the sun and rain by a roof resting upon columns. Sometimes the columns were connected by walls, and had three or five parallel colonnades (naves), the lateral ones often having double tiers of columns, so as to form upper galleries; the front space was termed the chalcidicum; the rear, sometimes of a semicircular shape, the tribunal. These buildings were the prototypes of the Roman basilica.
The gymnasia, or thermæ, may also be classed here, the former being halls or inclosures for physical exercises, the latter for bathing purposes.
The tombs, or mausoleums, were erected with a view to the preservation of the body or the ashes of the departed, or as monuments in honor of their memory. The rock-cut tombs were almost exclusively intended for the former purpose, though sometimes a frontispiece invited public attention to the same. In Greece and her colonies in Lower Italy the chambers were usually wrought in the shape of a coffin (sarcophagus). The monumental tombs frequently also contained a chamber for the corpse of the deceased. The most appropriate form for the combination of the sepulchre and monuments is that of a pyramid or of a tower-like building. The idea of the terrace-like monuments was probably derived from the shape of the funeral pile. Honorary monuments were analogous structures, but without any reference to the reception of bodies. They were erected for the purpose of receiving an image or emblematic group either into a niche or under a roof resting on columns.
The triumphal arches combine in an ingenious manner the two objects of commemorating victories and of affording prominent places for the statues of the heroes.
Special Description of Grecian Structures
1. Cyclopean Structures. Almost all the cities in Greece were originally built on mountains, the natural defence of which was increased by thick walls around the cities. In time the increase of population made it necessary to extend the cities beyond the wall, and they were gradually grouped round the foot of the mountain, which, with its fortified walls, became the citadel of the city, and was called Acropolis. It served also to preserve in safety the most valuable property of the city, the treasure, the archives, &c.; and the temples of the tutelar deities were erected there for greater safety. Numerous ruins show that almost every city had its acropolis. The oldest of them are known as the Cyclopean or Pelasgian walls. The number of cities known to have had such walls is nearly 400.
VII. Plate 8: Ancient Architecture
The ruins of the acropolis of Tiryns are among the most gigantic works of the kind in ancient Greece. The city of Tiryns, at present Palæo-Anapli, was situated in Argolis, near Nauplia, in a valley called after the hill upon which the acropolis was located, whose walls are the only remaining fragments of the place, which according to historical sources was erected by Tiryns the son of Argos, 1740 b. c., and was destroyed by the Argives 468 b. c. and the inhabitants carried to Argos. According to Pausanias the walls were constructed of rough stones, of so large dimensions that the smallest of them could not be moved by a yoke of oxen. The acropolis (pl. 8, fig. 1, plan; fig. 2, view of the line ab in fig. 1) was situated upon a long rock not more than 30 feet high, and lying due south and north. The walls surround a space 200 feet in length, by 60 feet in width. They are from 19 to 22\(\frac{1}{2}\) feet thick, built in straight lines, and their highest points are still upwards of 40 feet in height. The blocks are 10 to 13 feet long, by 4 feet thick, and are put in as they came from the quality. The original height of the walls was probably 55 feet. Some blocks are found inside, which are more carefully trimmed than the rest; they probably formed part of the entrances, which, according to Gell, were three. The eastern one is still in tolerably good preservation, and has a tower 22 feet wide, and at present of the same height, whose walls are constructed in a similar manner. The gateway is 15\(\frac{1}{2}\) feet high, the lintel about 10\(\frac{1}{2}\) feet long. It is probable that it had a front ornament, as there are two stones lying near the gate, which together form a triangle; whether they have been sculptured cannot be ascertained, as the one is very much decayed, and the other lying with its face to the ground. The gate swung on centre pivots secured in the sill and lintel. Inside the wall are two galleries whose ceiling is formed by two rows of stone blocks leaning against each other at an angle of 45 degrees. These galleries have window-like openings, which probably communicated with some detached construction, of which remains are traceable near them. The ceiling of the galleries is undoubtedly the oldest specimen of such a construction as yet discovered in Greece, and probably the first rude attempt at the arch.
Vast ruins of Cyclopean monuments are also found in the acropolis of Mycenæ, at present Karvati, in the Morea, erected about 1700 b. c. It formed an irregular triangle along the outlines of a hill. The walls are not all constructed in the same manner, nor probably at the same time. Some parts are built of rectangular blocks, the joints of several courses placed in perpendicular lines above each other; other parts of irregularly polygonal blocks; and again others, particularly those parts near the entrances, of regular blocks in good binding. The acropolis had three entrances. The first and smallest was formed by two immense stone blocks leaning against each other. The second and larger one was constructed of two upright massive jambs, supporting a huge block as a lintel. The third was the renowned Gate of the Lions (pl. 8, fig. 5, front elevation; fig. 6, section through the middle of the gateway), which formed the main entrance to the city. The door jambs are about 16 feet high, and the width under the lintel is about 9\(\frac{1}{2}\) feet; the lintel itself is one block 14 feet long, 6 feet high, and 4 feet wide. Over the entrance is a bas-relief sculptured on one triangular block 10 feet long, 9 feet high, 5\(\frac{1}{2}\) feet thick, of very hard, fine-grained, grey limestone. It represents a half round column, shaped somewhat like the Doric, but thinner below than above, and with a capital upon which are placed four rounded bodies, apparently supporting a second abacus. On either side of the column are erect beasts, considered to be lions, though the tails are unlike those of lions, and the heads are wanting. The emblematic import of this bas-relief has not yet been determined. Similar allegories are found in Persian sculptures and coins, where the column appears to be the altar of the sacred fire, attended either by men or lions. The lion was the symbol of the god Mithras, and his priests were termed lions. As there undoubtedly existed a lively intercourse between the Persians and Spartans, and as the latter in remote times worshipped the sun, or its symbol the fire, it may with some probability be supposed that the four rounded bodies on the column were intended to represent the ends of logs, and the supposed second abacus the side view of another log, thus indicating a sacrificatory fire, whose flame must have been destroyed with the heads of the lions. The whole would thus have represented the altar of the deity of the sun, which was worshipped at Mycenæ. The Gate of the Lions probably dates from the time when the city was rebuilt by Perseus (1400 b. c.), and the bas-relief is the oldest known ornament of Grecian sculpture, dating from the heroic age before the Trojan war.
The treasury buildings deserve especial mention in this place, as we first meet with them m Greece. They served to receive either the public treasure, or the wealth of a prince, or the sacred vessels of a temple. Agamedes and Trophonius erected such a building for king Hyrieus at Orchomenus, where the treasury of Minyas was also located. That of Atreus in Mycenæ is however the most remarkable (pl. 8, fig. 7, view of the entrance, fig. 8, section of the building). The chamber for the treasure is cut in the rock, and has a fore-hall of circular form executed in bound masonry, and arched like a bee-hive, which is entered by a long passage between two cyclopean walls. Its location is not far from the acropolis, surrounded by ruins of different buildings, with circular ground-plans and parabolically arched ceilings. The passage to it is about 19 feet wide and 69 feet long; the entrance 8 feet in width at the top, and 10 feet at the bottom, by 20 feet in height. The entrance is built of regularly cut stone blocks from a breccia quarry in the neighborhood. The most remarkable part of the entrance is the lintel, which is formed by two huge blocks, the lower of which is 25 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 4 feet thick, and extends within the arch. The second block, almost completely covered with earth, is probably of the same dimensions. Blocks as large as these have never been found in the walls of buildings, except in the ruins of Baalbek. Over the lintel there is a triangular opening, which may once have contained a bas-relief similar to that of the Gate of the Lions, or perhaps was only introduced for the sake of ventilation, and with the intention to relieve the pressure on the lintel. The construction of the circular room is remarkable, consisting of many horizontal rows of stones placed above each other, in circles of gradually reduced diameters, whilst their inner surfaces are smoothed off to form a parabolic line (pl. 8, fig. 8). The diameter of the floor is 48 feet, the height 37 feet, 2 inches. The walls have probably been decorated with bronze panels, as there are numerous bronze nails among the rubbish, and here and there holes drilled in the walls, and in the joints between the stones. The rock-cut chamber is at the right hand side from the entrance; it is rectangular, 27 feet, 10 inches long, 23 feet, 6 inches wide, and a little over 12 feet high. Some fragments of marble ornaments found in the passage which leads to the main building have induced some persons to suppose them the decorations of the entrance door, and Donaldson has tried to put them together and restore them; but the style of these ornaments proves beyond doubt that they belong to a more recent period than the exquisite simplicity of style of the building itself. They therefore probably formed part of some other building in ancient Mycenæ.
To the period of Pelasgian and Cyclopean structures belongs also a temple on the island of Gozzo, known as the Giganteja, or the tower of the giants. It was first described in 1836 by Count de la Marmora, and is one of the most important structures of the numerous ones wrought by the Phœnicians when they introduced their religion into Greece, Sardinia, Malta, Spain, and the Balearic Islands. We have illustrated it on pl. 8, where fig. 10 represents the ground plan, fig. 9 a section corresponding to the line f c in fig. 10, and fig. 11 a section corresponding to the line hi in fig. 10.
The two temples, fig. 10, a and b, are surrounded by an immense wall constructed of irregular blocks of stone, partly upright, in part horizontal. Each temple is formed by five somewhat irregular semicircles opening in a centre nave; both have only one elevation with the entrances e and d. The inside walls, as well as the floors, were covered with stone slabs, some of which are still in their places at e. Similar flagstones of elliptical shape are lying in front of the entrance c, at f. The depth of the larger temple, FG, is 78 feet, its greatest width, hi, 70 feet, and in kl, it is 49 feet wide. In the first hall of the temple, on the right hand side of the entrance, stand several upright stone blocks, which surround the sanctuary, to which a few steps lead, the first of which is semicircular, and has had a railing, of which traces are left. Between the two steps at a, is a vacant space which was occupied by the sacred threshold, which must not be trodden upon. The background of this hall is covered with large stone plates. Here ascends the sanctuary, b, composed of upright stones, surmounted by horizontal stone slabs, and containing in the centre a conical stone, the symbol of Venus of Paphos, to whom the temple was consecrated. The cornerstone is intended to represent the creative power. Phallus, or Lingam of the Indians. The division of this hall at k, opposite the former, contains the ruins of a very large altar, behind which is the reservoir intended for the sacred ablutions, particularly the washing of the feet.
The second or main hall is separated from the first by a passage lined with stone slabs. It is one step above the former, and the floor is entirely covered with stone slabs. The right hand side of the hall at i, is shut off by a breast-work containing the altar, d, near which a few low stone slabs, e, are placed upright, in such a position as to suggest their having supported a table top. Behind these stones the holes f f are cut out in the walls, which even at present retain the marks of fire. They were probably the places where the small sacred cakes were baked. At h, is a small reservoir, probably for the water with which the dough was prepared; and near it a long stone, with the form of a fish wrought on it. The opposite side of the hall at h, contains the sanctuary, g, partitioned off by large upright stones with tables between them. The background is lined with small cells, which, according to the stamp of a coin of the times of Antoninus, representing similar cells in the temple of Venus, must have served as nestling places for sacred doves.
The posterior portion of the hall, at g, is the most elevated, and contains nothing but a few fragments of stone. This was probably the location of the statues of the goddess Astarte of the Phœnicians, the prototype of the Grecian Venus Urania, to whom the temple was consecrated.
The second smaller temple, b, is of similar form with the large one, but destitute of any kind of exterior finish, except the altar at m, of a single stone. At k is a pile of bones and broken pottery, from which it may be inferred that the remains of the victims were deposited in this part of the temple, which is separated from the rest of the temple by the wall, l. Neither of these temples appears ever to have had a roof, and they agree in this respect with the temple of Venus at Paphos, and all other temples where the religious rites bore any relation to Sabseism. But there are in many places holes in the stones in which perhaps masts were placed to support a suntent, the regulating strings of which may have been fastened in other holes near by.
The necropolis (city of sepulchres) of the ancient Etruscan city of Tarquinii deserves to be mentiond here, as its construction took place in the Cyclopean period. The subterranean chambers in the neighborhood of Corneto are the only remains of this place which we have mentioned in the historical part of this work, giving a view of it in Plates, Division [III]. pl. 11., fig. 1. It was situated on a hill, and the sepulchres were marked by circular structures above-ground supporting a conical mound of earth. The interior of the sepulchres was frequently decorated with sculptures and paintings. Several of these chambers are in good preservation, and are known as the grottoes of Corneto (pl. 8, figs. 3, 4).
2. Temples and different other Buildings. The increased civilization and wealth of the Greeks, together with the abundance of superior materials, and the assistance of Phœnician and Egyptian mechanics and artists, at an early period induced them to construct the buildings erected in honor of their tutelary deities exclusively of stone.
VII. Plate 9: Architecture of Classical Greece
The oldest Grecian temples were built in the Doric order. In our description of the Grecian monuments we shall follow the reports of Pausanias, whose annotations were made on a journey undertaken for the special purpose of examining works of art (a. d. 174), at a period when Athens was still in its full splendor. A view of its probable features at that time is given in pl. 9, fig. 1, where a a represents the acropolis (with a the Parthenon, or the temple of Pallas Athene, b, the statue of Pallas Athene, c, the temple of Erechtheus, d, the propylæa); b, the Museum with the monument of Philopappus; c, the Areopagus; d, the Pnyx; e, the theatre of Bacchus; f, the Prjtaneum; g, the Odeon; h, the temple of Jupiter Olympius; i, the tower of Andronicus Cyrrhestes, or the tower of the winds; k, the temple of Theseus; l, the road to the Pyræus.
The Pyræus was the port of Athens. Its entrance was ornamented with two lions, and it contained five public halls, a large market surrounded by colonnades, several temples, and a theatre. The road to Athens lay between two enormous walls, running all the way from the city to the port, a distance of five miles.
Entering the city from this road, the first building near the gate was the Pompejon, the starting point of the religious processions. Near this edifice was an equestrian statue by Praxiteles. At a short distance from the Pompejon stood the temple of Ceres, which contained the statues of Proserpine, Ceres, and of the youthful Bacchus. Two colonnades led from the Pompejon to the part of the city called Ceramicus. There were several similar colonnades in Athens which were necessary for public places of resort. Near one of the colonnades at the Pompejon were several temples, the gymnasium of Mercury, and the house of Polytion, surrounded by an inclosure, where the Eleusinian mysteries were practised by several of the wealthy citizens of Athens. Next stood a small building which contained bas-reliefs of burnt clay, among which was prominent the festival of the Athenian king Amphyction. On the right hand side, near the end of the colonnade, in the district of Ceramicus, was the Royal Basilica, where the second archon of Athens held his court of justice, and where the Areopagus sometimes met. The name Basilica is derived from basileus, the king. This building was a peripteros, with porticoes in front and in the retr. The bas-reliefs in the gable represent the victory of Theseus over the pirate Skyron, and the rape of Cephalus by Aurora. At the entrance of the hall stood the bronze statue of Pindar, with a tiara around his head, a book on his knees, and a lyre in his hand.
Not far from the Royal Basilica were two remarkable buildings, to the right the temple of Apollo containing a picture of Apollo by Euphranor, and two statues of Apollo by Leochares and Calamis; and to the left the hall of Jupiter was situated, probably built with three rows of columns and walls placed inside the two outer rows of columns.
In the same district was the temple of Cybele, with a statue of the goddess by Phidias, and the House of the 500 Senators, with numerous statues and paintings. The square to the right near the Royal Basilica was surrounded by terminal statues with inscriptions at their base, containing either commemorations of great and gallant deeds of the Greeks, or admonitions to wisdom and virtue.
Next to the House of the Senate stood the Tholus, a circular building surrounded by plantain trees, in which the officiating magistrates took their meals, and offered the regulated sacrifices. Among different others it contained the silver statues of Cecrops and of Pandion, in front of which the first archon held his court of justice. After the Tholus came the temple of Ares (Mars), with the statues of Mars, Pallas Athene, Venus by Alcamenes, another Venus by Locrus, and others. The street leading from the Tholus to the market terminated in a hall lined with terminal statues, formed by several porticoes, and known as the Hall of the Hermge. The inscriptions on the statues proclaimed the gratitude of the state towards the common soldiers.
In the rear of the Tholus was the Pnyx, where the large assemblies were held. Near it was the Enneacrounos or fountain with nine jets, the only public fountain of Athens; and beyond it, the temples of Ceres and Proserpine, and of Triptolemus, the deified founder of the Eleusinian mysteries. The former contained the statue of Ceres, and the latter that of Epimenides. Near the Eleusinium was the temple of Eucleia, or the Temple of Glory, erected with the booty made in the battle of Marathon, and containing a statue of Venus in Parian marble by Phidias.
Opposite the House of the Senate, in the market and adjoining the Royal Basilica, was the temple of Vulcan, containing statues of Vulcan and of Pallas Athene. Near to the Hall of the Hermse was the Stoic Hall, in which philosophy was taught. In front of its portico were the bronze statues of Solon and Seleucus, and that of Mercury ornamented the entrance. The interior was decorated with paintings representing battles, the combats of the Amazons, &c. The north side of the market was occupied by the temple of Venus Urania and that of Æacus. On the market square itself was the altar of friendship, and a few other monuments of little importance.
VII. Plate 10: Classical Greek Temples
North of the temple of Æacus was the temple of Theseus, the ruins of which still remain in tolerably good condition, whilst the location of the other monuments previously mentioned, with the exception of the Pnyx, can only be conjectured from literary sources. The Temple of Theseus as it is at present, is represented in pl. 9, fig. 3, whilst pl. 10, figs. 3 and 4, give views of its restored front, the latter for the sake of comparison reduced to the scale of the other elevations on this plate; and pl. 10, fig. 5, shows the plan. This Doric temple has columns all round, six in front, and thirteen on each side, the corner columns being counted twice, which is always done in giving the number of columns of different sides, as they appear on two. The temple is 104 feet long by 45 feet wide. The pronaos and posticum are formed by the extension of the side walls, and two columns stand between the corner pillars. The entire temple is built of white marble, the foundation of large blocks of limestone. The gable of the pronaos has been decorated with sculptures which have disappeared, but the frieze inside the pronaos still contains representations of several groups of combatants and spectators; and the frieze in the posticum the combat of Theseus and the Lapithæ. The ten metopes of the front portico show ten labors of Hercules, and the four adjoining ones on either side, the labors of Theseus. The temple proper is 54 feet long, by 19 feet, 2 inches wide. The temple was erected ten years after the battle of Salamis, after the son of Miltiades had collected the bones of Theseus on the island of Scyros, and had triumphantly carried them to Athens. At present the temple of Theseus is used as a church of St. George, for which reason probably it is so well kept.
Not far from the temple of Theseus, opposite the Stoic Hall, was the gymnasium, erected by orderof Ptolemæus, and containing the statues of Juba and Chrysippus, and a spacious court-yard surrounded with colonnades. Opposite the gymnasium, in rear of the Stoic Hall, was the temple of the Dioscuri, the entrance of which was decorated with the statues of Castor and Pollux, whilst on each side were those of their sons with their horses. The interior was decorated with paintings by Polygnotus and Micon, representing the wedding of the sons of the Dioscuri with the daughters of Leucippus and the embarkation of Jason and his heroes for Colchis.
Near this temple was the district consecrated to Aglauros, with a temple of this nymph. Then came the Prytaneum, where the written laws of Solon were preserved, and citizens who had distinguished themselves in the service of the state were entertained at public expense. It contained the statues of Vesta, of Peace, as well as of Miltiades, Themistocles, and other celebrated men. Opposite these different buildings were the portico of Hadrian, the vegetable market surrounded by a wall and double porticoes, and in the rear of the latter the Tower of the Winds (pl. 9, fig. 4, plan and elevation; pl. 19, fig. 9, capital from the portico).
The Tower of the Winds is an eight-sided marble building, whose faces are turned exactly towards the octants of the heavens, each containing a bas-relief allegory of one of the eight winds known to the Greeks. The tower carries a conical roof, on the top of which stood a bronze Triton serving as a vane. Below the bas-reliefs are as many sundials calculated to suit the corresponding points of the compass, which are considered by Delambre to be the most remarkable remains of the practical gnomonios of the ancients. The building originally had two entrances, one towards the north-east and the other towards the north-west, each of them ornamented with a portico of two columns. Stuart, when first surveying the building, after removing all the rubbish, discovered on the floor traces of a clepsydra, or water-clock, as described by Vitruvius, which was probably fed by a brook passing close to the tower, and which to this day is called Clepsydra. The water reservoir is located in the round house attached to the main building. The interior of the tower is divided into four different stories, which probably had floors for the door to rest upon, The decorations of the interior are of the Doric order; those of the exterior of the Corinthian.
Towards the south-east of the street of the Tripods, which began at the Prytaneuna, are the ruins of the arch of Hadrian, forming one corner of a peribolus supposed by some archæologists to be portions of the temple of Jupiter Olympius, whilst others take them for the Pantheon of Hadrian. Of the temple of Jupiter Olympius, pl. 12, fig. 2, gives the plan; fig. 8, the elevation; and pl. 11, fig. 4, the section, drawn according to the designs of the celebrated architect, Luigi Canina. The temple was a dipteros dekastylos of the Corinthian order, with twenty columns. The interior contained two tiers of columns, one above the other, and was a hypæthros, for the roof was open above the statue of Jupiter. Besides the porticoes, the temple had a pronaos formed by four Corinthian columns. The building was erected and the statues of gold and ivory put up by Hadrian. The pronaos contained four statues of Hadrian, and the peribolus, 2300 feet in circumference, was ornamented with statues which had been supplied by different cities, each contributing one. Another temple of Jupiter Olympius, of the Doric order, had formerly occupied the same spot, whose columns, after its destruction, were carried to Rome by Sylla, and erected in the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, which was destroyed by fire. For the new temple Hadrian ordered the Roman architect Cossutius to adopt the Corinthian order, which was not generally introduced into Greece before the year 395 b. c. Of the 112 columns 16 are still standing. The length of the temple on the upper stair was 354 feet, by 141 feet in width. The columns had 6\(\frac{1}{2}\) feet diameter, and were over 60 feet high; and like the rest of the building, were of Pentelican marble.
Towards the north-east of this temple were the statue of the Pythian Apollo, and a temple of the Delphian Apollo. East of the Olympgeon, a gate in the city wall led to the district of the gardens watered by the Ilissus, on the left bank of which was the temple of Boreas. North-east of the latter, near the spring of Callirhoë, was a small Ionic temple, which some suppose to be that of Diana Agrotera, whilst others think it to be that of Ceres or of Triptolemus. It is represented on pl. 16, fig. 36, plan, and pl. 10, fig. 15, elevation. A few ruins of it still exist. It belongs to the Ionic order, but its proportions, notwithstanding their beauty, deviate considerably from those usually met with. The temple was an amphiprostylos tetrastylos, and built of Pentelican marble.
The Stadium of Herodes Atticus, built of marble, was also located on the left bank of the Ilissus, as well as a small temple of Hercules; and a little more to the east a temple of Venus, with a statue of the goddess. Opposite the latter, on the right bank of the Ilissus, was the Lyceum, containing large places for exercise, with 100 columns from Lybia.
The most remarkable of the monuments in the street of tripods is the choragian monument of Lysicrates, sometimes called the Lantern of Demosthenes. This is one of the most graceful of ancient architectural monuments. Its elevation is represented on pl. 9, fig. 5, whilst details are given on pl. 19, viz. a capital (fig. 10), a base (fig. 18), and the restored dome with the celebrated three-cornered flower that supported the tripod (fig. 24). This building, far famed in architectural history, is but 13 feet, 11 inches high, and has not more than 5 feet, 4 inches inside diameter. It was constructed as follows: Six marble slabs of equal size were placed close together to form a hollow cylinder. Along the upright joints semicircular cavities were wrought, just wide enough to receive Corinthian columns which were placed in them with great accuracy, one half projecting beyond the surface of the cylinder; an entablature and a dome to cover it completed the building. Between the capitals of the columns are tripods in bas-relief, and the frieze is ornamented with a bas-relief representing the history of Bacchus, who conquered the Tyrrhenian pirates, and changed them into dolphins. The flutes of the columns terminate in leaves, an arrangement entirely unique. The recess at the neck of the columns has probably been filled by an astragalus of bronze or gold. The roof is of one single block of marble, admirably wrought so as to appear covered with tiles of the shape of olive leaves. The crowning flower is of a beautiful model, and terminates in three volutes of great elegance. Other volutes on the roof have probably served to carry some ornaments on which the corners of the large flower must have rested. In our restoration (pl. 19, fig. 24) we have adopted dolphins, to correspond with the frieze; others have introduced satyrs.
Behind this monument was the Odeon of Pericles (pl. 17, fig. 1, elevation; fig. 2, section; fig. 3, plan). It was of the Doric order, circular, with 32 stone columns supporting the peribolus. The masts of the Persian ships taken in war were used as rafters in the roof, which had the form of a tent. According to Diodorus, the building was of an oval shape, with an open portico (pl. 10, fig. 10, front; fig. 11, side view; fig. 12, plan). During the Mithridatian war it was either destroyed by fire or pulled down by the order of Aristion, the Mithridatian commander, to facilitate the approach to the Acropolis. It was rebuilt, by the order of Ariobarzanes, by Caius and Marius, sons of Caius Stallius. On certain days the. Odeon was used as a grain market.
The Theatre of Bacchus, located at the southeastern foot of the Acropolis, stood so near to the latter that the seats were partly cut in the rocks. This theatre was built by Themistocles, and afterwards the interior was decorated with portraits and statues of different poets. In the rock of the Acropolis, at the height of the top of the roof of the theatre, was the choragian monument of Thrasyllus and Thrassicles cut out in shape of a niche or a grotto, and adjoining it another niche containing a tripod, upon which were represented Apollo and Diana murdering the children of Mobe. Adjoining the theatre was the temple of Bacchus Limngeus, the oldest temple of this god at Athens. Its peribolus inclosed still another temple, that of Bacchus Eleutheros, whose statue was of gold and ivory.
On the southern slope of the rock of the Acropolis were the mausoleum of Talus, who was killed by Daedalus, and the temple of Æsculapius, containing the statues of Æsculapius and of his children, besides several beautiful paintings.
The Odeon of Regilla, located at the southern foot of the rock of the Acropolis, was built 150 years b.c., by Herodes Atticus, in honor of his wife Regilla. Eumenicus added a colonnade to it, which connected it with the theatre of Bacchus. It was of white marble.
South of the Stoic Hall, and southeast of the Pnyx, were the Areopagus and the temple of the Eumenides, situated upon a hill commanding the view of the seashore over the roof of the Pnyx. Near this place is a Doric portico (pl. 10, fig. 13, elevation; fig. 14, plan) supposed to have been the entrance of the Agora or vegetable market, from an inscription on the same mentioning the names of two superintendents of the market, and another containing a proclamation of Hadrian regulating the sale of oil and the duties to be levied on importations.
After having thus mentioned the various buildings alluded to by ancient writers as being in the city of Athens itself, we now proceed to the edifices on the Acropolis, the citadel of Athens, among which we find the best preserved monuments of Grecian antiquity; whilst those in the city proper have been entirely destroyed, with the exception of the few whose ruins we have noticed more in detail.
VII. Plate 11: Greek and Roman Temples
The Acropolis of Athens (pl. 11, fig. 1), according to historical traditions, was planned and executed by the Pelasgians, who were masters in the art and science of fortification in ancient times. It was a citadel which by strong walls was well secured against any hostile attack, and inclosed a sacred place filled with a number of temples and adorned with the noblest and most exquisite productions of art. It was, in fact, the sanctuary of Athens, where the Panathengean festivals were celebrated, and the depository of the public archives and the state treasure.
Pausanias, the best author on Athens, has left us descriptions of all the luxury and beauty condensed upon comparatively so small a spot, which are indeed astonishing. He mentions the temples of Diana, of Venus, of Minerva Polias, of Erechtheus and Nike Apteros, and of the Parthenon. Of all these glorious structures nothing has been preserved but the ruins of the propylæa of the Parthenon, of the temples of Minerva Polias and Erechtheus, and the Hall of the Nymph Pandrosos; but they suffice to bear evidence to the grandeur and beauty of the monuments in the time of their glory. Large flights of steps on the western slope of the mountain, ornamented with two equestrian statues upon pedestals, led to the main entrance of the citadel, which was built in the purest style of the Doric order, and is far-famed under the name of the Propylaea. This magnificent structure, undoubtedly one of the most characteristic monuments of the time when Athens was in her prime, was commenced 437 b. c., and completed in the exceedingly short time of five years, according to the designs and under the superintendence of Mnesicles.
Pl. 11, fig. 1, shows a perspective view of the edifice, which is composed of the main or centre building, with projecting wings, forming three sides of a quadrangle. The centre building, with its six columns, offers five entrances to the interior of the Acropolis. The side building to the right forms a portico to the Doric temple of Nike Apteros (the wingless Victory), of which pl. 16, fig. 32, gives the plan, whilst pl. 11, fig. 1, has a view of it near the right hand pedestal. The left side building contained in one of the interior apartments the famous paintings of Polygnotus. The portico in the rear, facing the interior of the Acropolis, was similar to that in front, both of them being of the Doric order, whilst the vestibule has Ionic columns, but without a base. Only very recently the discovery of a very carefully constructed inclined plane leading to the Acropolis has decided the question whether chariots had entered it, which had been supposed on account of the greater distance between the two centre columns, and on the strength of the representations of chariots in the bas-reliefs of the Panathensean games on the frieze. The marble beams which formed the ceiling were 17 to 18 feet long, and of sufficient thickness to receive deep panels, which were ornamented and painted. The depth of the building from the front to the rear wall was 43 feet, to which the posticum, of 18 feet in depth, was attached. The wings, or side buildings, had temple fronts of three columns between pillars, and were constructed, like the main building, of Pentelican marble. The columns of the propylæum are 27 feet high; those of the side buildings are 18 feet high by 3 feet in diameter.
The Parthenon, dedicated to Pallas Athene, was one of the largest and most magnificent temples in Greece, for the illustration of which we refer to pl. 9, fig. 2, western front; pl. 10, fig. 6, eastern front; and pl. 11, fig. 6, longitudinal section. It was in excellent preservation as late as the year 1676, when it was visited by Wheler and Spoon, but in the following year, when the Venetians bombarded Athens, a shell penetrated to the ammunition of the Turks, kept in the temple, and the explosion that followed did great damage to the edifice. The sculptures of the gable and frieze have been taken away by the English, and are now in the collections of the British Museum.
The temple is a peripteros with 8 columns in front and 17 at the sides, and a hypæthros with its interior columns in double tiers. The porticoes had two rows of columns each. The temple was built by Ictinos and Callicrates (470 b. c.), and is 227 feet 7 inches in length, by a width of 101 feet 1 inch. It presented the peculiarity that the usual corner pillars of the second row of columns in the porticoes are substituted by columns. The outer columns are 35 feet, 5 inches high, by % feet, 1 inch in diameter; those on the corners are 2 inches thicker.
In ancient times the Parthenon was called Hecatompedon, because it had exactly 100 feet front, according to Boman measure. The width of the cella in the rear was 62\(\frac{1}{2}\) feet by a length of 98 feet 7 inches; the length of the vestibule was 43 feet 10 inches, and the total height of the temple 65 feet. The cella contained a magnificent statue of Minerva by Phidias, made of the costliest materials, chiefly gold and ivory. The two gable fields were also richly adorned with sculptures, which, as late as 1683, were in tolerably good preservation, when the French ambassador at the Porte, Nointel, caused them to be drawn accurately by a Dutch artist, whose drawings have been consulted in the various attempts made at restoring the groups in recent times. The groups in the western gable fields had reference to the birth of Pallas Athene, whilst those of the eastern represented her contest with Neptune about the sway of the land. The panels in the external Doric entablature contained 92 bas-reliefs representing the wars of the Lapithæ and the Centaurs, and the frieze around the cella and vestibule, which was upwards of 500 feet in length, bore sculptures representing the Panathensean games.
Another remarkable group on the platform of the Acropolis is formed by the temples of Minerva Polias and Erechtheus, and the hall of the nymph Pandrosos. Pl. 10, fig. 8, gives a view, and fig. 9 the plan of this group, whilst pl. 11, fig. 5, is an attempt at a restoration of the same. For details we refer to pl. 7, fig. 24, the columnar order; pl. 19, fig. 6a, capital from the portico of the temple of Minerva Polias; fig. 6b, capital from the portico of the temple of Erechtheus; fig. 17, base from the former; fig. 18, base from the latter; fig. 31, caryatide from the hall of the nymph Pandrosos.
This group was erected during the Peloponnesian war, probably 409 b. c., but took fire only three years later. Its eastern side is formed by the temple of Erechtheus, with a portico of 6 columns, 21 feet, 8 inches high, fluted, and with decorated necks. The portico leads into the cella (pl. 10, fig. 9 b), which is 70 feet 6 inches in length by 32 feet 4 inches in width. It contained the salt spring, and the altars of Neptune, Vulcan, and the hero Butes. The rear of this curious group was formed by the temple of Minerva Polias, whose cella is at a (fig. 9). Its portico has 4 columns 24 feet high, facing north. In the rear of the cella is the hall of the nymph Pandrosos (fig. 9 c), which, in place of columns, had 6 beautiful caryatides supporting the entablature, one of which was carried off by Lord Elgin. It has been replaced by a pillar of bricks bearing the stigmatizing inscription: "This is the work of Lord Elgin." The capitals of the four columns forming the portico are larger, more richly ornamented, better executed, and altogether in a superior style to the other capitals of the group. The columns have a considerable swelling. Behind this portico a beautiful doorway with consols and entablature has been dug up, all of white marble.
The interior of the Erechtheum was also decorated with sculptures and paintings. Near the entrance stood the three altars which we have mentioned, and which were highly finished works of art. The walls were adorned with pictures. The division of the group consecrated to Minerva Polias contained a wooden statue of Mercury, an offering of Cecrops; a folding chair, wrought by Daedalus and offered to the gods as a useful invention; the sword of Mardonius, suspended on the wall; and the statue of Minerva, in front of which was the eternal lamp, an offering of Callimachus, the alleged inventor of the Corinthian capital.
Besides the afore-mentioned monuments in the city and upon the Acropolis, there are the ruins of the aqueduct of Hadrian, consisting of a few columns and one arch at the foot of the mount Anchesmus; the tombs of Thrasybulus who overthrew the government of the thirty tyrants, of Pericles, Chabrias, Phormion, Harmodius, Aristogiton, and of many combatants at Marathon.
A large road called the Sacred Way, about 500 stadia long, led to the city of Eleusis. On both sides of this road so large a number of tombs, mausoleums, and columns had been erected during the flourishing time of Greece, that Polemon wrote an extensive work on them. At present, the site of the road even is not perfectly known, and no traces whatever are left of the palace of Crocon, or of the temple with the statues of Apollo, Ceres, and Minerva. Eleusis at present contains the ruins of four buildings, viz. the propylæa, the temple of Diana, the mystic portico, and the temple of Ceres. The propylæa formed part of the peribolus which surrounded the temples, to which only the initiated were admitted, a regulation particularly enforced at the temple of Ceres. They form a portico of six Doric columns of 5 feet and half an inch in diameter, which leads to the vestibule of six Ionic columns in two rows, which is followed by four pillars standing free, and inside by six Doric columns. The front gable field was decorated with a priest's head surrounded by a ring.
The temple of Diana Propylæa (pl. 10, fig. 16, elevation; pl. 16, fig. 35, plan) is accessible by six steps, the uppermost of which is 69 feet, 8 inches long. The temple is of the Doric order, with corner pillars and two columns of 2 feet, 7 inches diameter. The stone blocks of the ceiling, like the rest of the building of white marble, are 83 feet long by 3 feet wide, and 2 feet, 6 inches thick, each of them weighing about 11 tons. The cornice and gable tops had front tiles. The building is very much dilapidated.
The Mystic Portico, where those about to be initiated in the Eleusinian mysteries had to undergo certain ceremonies, is of the Ionic order, and contains near the door two pilasters, with Corinthian capitals of uncommon beauty. This hall formed the vestibule of the temple of Ceres and Proserpine, one of the most remarkable ancient buildings, which, however, was totally destroyed by Alaric. The temple had a portico of twelve Doric mantled columns of 6\(\frac{1}{2}\) feet in diameter. The fore hall is 38 feet deep, the corner pillars projecting so far as to indicate the existence of a second row of ten columns. The temple was a prostylos, and according to Vitruvius the fore hall only was added to the main building by Demetrius Phalereus, whilst the latter was built by Ictinus, 439 b. c.
All the monuments at Megara and Corinth, to which Pausanias even alludes as being much injured by time, are totally destroyed. On the isle of Ægina, which at an early period was considerably advanced in civilization, many once celebrated monuments had already disappeared at the time of Pausanias. The most splendid building on the island at that time was the temple of Jupiter Panhellenius, some of the ruins of which are still existing. The ground-plan of this temple (pl. 13, fig. 12) shows that it had been a peripteros of six columns in front, and twelve at the sides. It was of the Doric order, hypæthral in construction, and with two rows of columns in the interior. The gable field was decorated with sculptures which have been carried to Munich. The proportions of this monument are excellent, and the mouldings of the capitals and the entablature of a bolder character than those of the temples of Minerva and Theseus at Athens.
Two Doric columns of the temple of Venus, situated near the harbor, are all that remains of a number of other temples formerly known on Ægina. The Ægina theatre was considered to be of a very superior style, and was of larger dimensions than that at Epidaurus.
Argos, a city in the district of Argolis, was the residence of the famous sculptors Polycletus, Praxiteles, and others, who by the master-pieces of their art ornamented its temples, among which were those of Jupiter Soter, Juno, Bacchus, Apollo Lycius, and Venus; and the temple of Minerva located upon the acropolis, which also contained a treasury of Atreus similar to that at Mycenae. All these buildings, together with a large number of magnificent tombs, are entirely destroyed, a few columns of the Doric order and of rather slender proportions of the temple of Jupiter Nemæus, between Argos and Corinth, being the only traces left of them. Of this temple, pl. 16, fig. 17, and pl. 13, fig. 13, show the plan, the latter figure with the omission of the three columns between the comer pillars of the pronaos. A few other ruins near Argos are supposed to be those of a theatre, of the palace of Agamemnon, and of an aqueduct. About four miles from Argos near Mount Euboia was the temple of Juno, famous for its beautiful sculptures, those in the gable fields being representations of the birth of Jupiter, the war of the gods and the giants, and the Trojan war. The statue of Juno in the temple was of gold and ivory.
At Bassæ, near Phigalia, was the temple of Apollo Epicureus, one of the most remarkable monuments of Greece, and especially of the Peloponnesus. This temple, built by Ictinus in the time of Phidias, was 125 feet long, by 47 feet wide, with six Doric columns of 3 feet, 7 inches diameter, and 19 feet, 6 inches high in front, and of 13 columns of the same size on the sides (pl. 11, fig. 10, ground plan). The interior of the cella contained ten Ionic columns in two rows, with capitals remarkable on account of the volutes being placed diagonally, and therefore presenting four equal faces, instead of the usual two. Between the two last columns, opposite the entrance, was one Corinthian column. These 11 columns supported a frieze of more than 100 feet in length, by 2 feet, 1\(\frac{1}{2}\) inch high, decorated with representations of the war of the Centaurs and Lapithæ, and of the Greeks and Amazons. This master-piece of sculpture is now in the British Museum. The walls and columns of this temple were built of limestone, but the roof was constructed of marble.
Among many ruins at Olympia, are those of the temple of Jupiter, which the Eleans caused to be built in the year 450 b. c. by Libon from the booty gained in their wars (pl. 10, fig. 1, front elevation; fig. 2, longitudinal section; pl. 15, fig. 3, half front; fig. 4, half lateral section of the pronaos; fig. 5, lateral section of the cella and porticoes). The outer walls of this temple were plastered with stucco \(\frac{1}{10}\) of an inch thick, and the roof, which was reached by winding stairs, was covered with Pentelican marble. On each front there were two rows of six Doric columns each, and 17 on each side 6 feet in diameter. Inside were two rows of columns placed in two tiers, and the temple was hypæthral. The length of the temple, which numbers among the largest in Greece, was 218 feet, by 94 feet in width, and 64 feet in height. The side walls were painted by Pansenus, brother of Phidias, but the gable fields are decorated with haut-reliefs. Those of the front by Pæonius represented Pelops and Œnomaus preparing for a chariot race in presence of Jupiter; whilst those of the rear by Alcmenes, exhibited the combat of the Centaurs and Lapithæ at the wedding of Pirithous. The doors of the temple were of bronze, decorated with representations of the labors of Hercules. The architrave contained 21 gilded bucklers, a donation of Mummius the Roman general, after his victory over Corinth.
Several monuments in Attica are worthy of special notice. On a plateau about 300 feet above the level of the sea, near Rhamnus, 60 stadia from Marathon, are the ruins of two temples inclosed by a peribolus; the largest consecrated to Nemesis, the smaller to Themis. The former (pl. 12, fig. 13, front; fig. 14, and pl. 16, fig. 23, ground plans) was a peripteros with six Doric mantled columns in front, and twelve on the sides. The members of the entablature show marks of painted ornaments. The height of the building was 70 feet, 5 inches, by a width of 32 feet, 10 inches; the diameter of the columns, which were 13 feet, 1 inch high, was 2 feet, 4\(\frac{1}{3}\) inch; the entablature was 4 feet, 4 inches high. The ceiling and roof are constructed in a superior style, and their ruins are very instructive with regard to the rules by which the ancients connected stone blocks. Seven columns of the temple and one of the pronaos are still in good condition, and the three steps of the substructure show that the columns were placed over quadrangular grooves several inches deep, and probably intended to receive metal plates. The temple of Themis (pl. 16, fig. 33, plan) had two Doric columns between the corner pillars, and was 32 feet, 3 inches long, by 20 feet, 10 inches wide. It was erected at the time of Pericles, and destroyed by the Persians.
At Sunium are two remarkable ruins, the one the remains of the temple of Minerva Sunias, and the other of its propylæa, which are very similar to those of the temple of Diana at Eleusis. Both these monuments are of the Doric order, and very carefully constructed of white marble. Of the temple there remain nine columns of the western side, three of the eastern, and the corner pillars and two columns of the pronaos. It had six columns in front, and 13 at the sides. Of the interior no traces are left, and it is therefore not well ascertained whether the vestibule inserted in our ground plan (pl. 16, fig. 19) from the plan of the Parthenon, really existed.
We now proceed to the Grecian monuments in Asia Minor, commencing with the island of Delos, where we find the ruins of the temple of Apollo built of Parian marble, of which nothing remains but three Doric mantled columns of 3 feet, 1 inch diameter, and 18 feet, 8 inches high, with an entablature of 5 feet, 9\(\frac{1}{2}\) inches (pl. 19, fig. 2, a capital). A few fluted Doric columns of a portico ascribed to Philip of Macedonia on the strength of an inscription on the same, are found near this temple. They are 19 feet, 4 inches high, by 2 feet, 11 inches diameter. The flutes descend only to within six feet from the ground, the lower part of the shafts being polygons with smooth faces. The capitals have but very little projection, and an almost straight echinus. Near this place are also some ruins of square pillars, the capitals of which are formed by the heads and shoulders of four oxen, in the manner of the horse capitals in the monument of Nakshi Rustam (pl. 3, fig. 6).
Sardis, the metropolis of Lydia, at the foot of Mount Tmolos, contains the ruins of the temple of Cybele. This temple, of the Ionic order, was a dipteros, but with three rows of columns in front (pl. 10, fig. 17, elevation; pl. 11, fig. 13, plan).
Of all the monuments of Mylasa, a place eighteen hundred years ago remarkable for its numerous temples, colonnades, and buildings of every description, nothing remains but a Corinthian column without the capital, erected in honor of the sovereign of Caria, and the ruins of a temple dedicated to Rome and Augustus and of a beautiful gate of the Corinthian order (pl. 18, fig. 22, view; fig. 23, plan.) About a mile from the city are the ruins of a mausoleum of a very inferior style. The corners are formed by square pillars between which a couple of slender pillars are placed, with half columns attached to them inside and outside. The Corinthian columns and pillars are fluted on the two upper thirds and plain below. The substructure supports over a panelled ceiling a pedestal composed of steps, which probably once supported a statue. The frieze is convex.
VII. Plate 13: Roman and Middle Eastern Architecture
Engraver: Gustav Feldweg
Halicarnassus, situated on a safe and extensive harbor, the native place of Herodotus, contained the temples of Mercury, Venus, and Mars, and the marble-faced royal palace. In the centre of the city was the mausoleum erected in honor of the memory of King Mausolus, by his disconsolate widow Artemisia (pl. 13, fig. 19, elevation; fig. 20, side view; fig. 21, section; fig. 18, ground plan). The building is entirely destroyed. Some of the columns and sculptures of it were probably used in the construction of the royal palace. Our illustrations have been made from a medal (fig. 22, a, b), whose obverse showed the portrait of Artemisia, the reverse the mausoleum, and from ancient descriptions. The mausoleum, erected 353 b. c., was 140 feet high, and 411 feet in circumference. The substructure supported 36 Ionic columns, crowned with a rich entablature. The roof was formed by a series of steps, whose top supported the triumphal chariot with four horses, by Phytio. The four sides of the substructure were decorated with sculptures by Braxis, Leocharis, Timotheus, and Scopas, who, after the death of Artemisia, completed them without remuneration for the sake of their own reputation and fame. The building was destroyed by Alexander 334 b. c. during the siege of Halicarnassus.
Pl. 10, fig. 22, shows the elevation, and fig. 23, the plan (in which, by mistake, two columns of the sides and the posticum have been omitted) of a beautiful Corinthian temple at Euxomus in Ionia. The temple, probably erected in the time of Hadrian or Antonine, had six columns in front and eleven on the sides, with magnificent capitals and bases.
The temple of Apollo Didymæus, one of the largest in Greece, was located near the city of Miletus, on the cape Branchidge. It was of the Ionic order, hypæthral, with ten columns in front and two rows of 21 columns on each side (pl. 12, fig. 3, front elevation; fig. 4, plan). The columns were 6 feet, 3 inches in diameter, and 63 feet, 1 inch high; the height of the entablature was 7 feet, 4\(\frac{3}{4}\) inches. The capitals of the pillars are ornamented with bas-reliefs, and the capital of the only remaining Corinthian column is one of the most beautiful in existence, and has been frequently imitated. The whole length of the temple was 295 feet, 9\(\frac{1}{2}\) inches, by a width of 156 feet, 7 inches.
At Priene, on the right bank of the river Mseander, are the ruins of the temple of Minerva Polias, built by Pythius under Alexander, 334 b. c. (pl. 16, fig. 18, plan). It was an amphiprostylos peripteros of the Ionic order, with 6 columns in front and 11 on each side; 122 feet, 5\(\frac{1}{2}\) inches long, by 64 feet, 3 inches wide, exclusive of the three steps. The columns were 4 feet, 8 inches in diameter, by 36 feet, 11 inches in height.
The magnificent temple of Diana in Magnesia (pl. 12, fig. 7, elevation; fig. 8, ground plan), which, according to Strabo, was the largest of all temples in Asia except the temple of Ephesus, was of the Ionic order, with 8 columns in front and 15 at the sides. No trace of it is left, and our illustrations are derived from the descriptions of Strabo and Vitruvius.
Of the temple of Diana at Ephesus, renowned as the most exquisite building in Asia, only a few ruins of the substructure are left. From ancient descriptions we have gleaned the details given in our illustrations (pl. 12, fig. 1, elevation; fig. 2, plan). The temple was destroyed five different times and as often rebuilt. After the fifth destruction the Greeks resolved to erect the costly building of which we here give the outline. The plans were made by Ctesiphon of Gnossus on the island of Crete, who here first introduced the Ionic order, whose capital he had probably seen in the temple of Chalembaram in India. The constiniction was commenced by Theodoras, towards the end of the seventh century b. c., who made a firm ground by piles, the natural ground being swampy and unsafe. After the death of Ctesiphon, the building was continued consecutively by Melagenes, Demetrius, and Pseonius, who finally completed it 480 e.g., the whole work having occupied 220 years. According to Vitruvius the temple was a dipteros with 8 columns in front; 425 feet long, by 220 feet wide, and hypæthral. It had 127 columns, donations of the Asiatic kings, the largest of which were 60 feet high, by 7\(\frac{1}{2}\) feet in diameter. On the day when Alexander was born Herostratus set fire to the temple, of which, however, only the cedar roof could be consumed; but the heat converted the marble columns in the cella into lime. Fourteen years later the restoration was commenced, about the manner of which there is a great diversity of opinion among archaeologists. From the reports of Vitruvius it would appear that the old plan was followed, and as he names a group of 36 columns which are also mentioned by Pliny, some authors are of opinion that these must have been in the cella, forming two double rows of 9 pairs or 18 columns on either side. This would leave 91 for the outside. Now Vitruvius gives 8 columns at the front and 17 at the sides, which makes 84, the temple being a dipteros; then there are mentioned 4 in the pronaos and 2 in the posticum, making the number of the columns outside the cella 90; and as the last single column can be assigned to no special place, archgeologists surmise that there was a mistake in the ancient manuscripts, and that the number of columns in the building was written CXXVII., by mistake for CXXVI. We cannot admit the probability of such a conclusion, as it is based upon the presumption that two authors have made the same error. The view of the distinguished archaeologist, Luigi Canina, appears much more likely, and from his disposition of the columns our drawing has been made. According to him the new temple had 10 columns in front, 19 at the sides, 4 both in the pronaos and posticum, 8 on either side of the cella, with 3 at the lower end behind the sanctuary between them, which brings in exactly 127 columns, without violating any rule of architecture.
The northern barbarians under Rapsa completely destroyed this magnificent edifice, 262 a.d., and carried a number of the columns to Constantinople.
Besides the temple of Diana, Ephesus contains the ruins of a temple of the Corinthian order, the foundation walls of an extensive theatre, and three lower and six upper arches of an aqueduct erected by Tiberius. About four miles northwest of Ephesus was Teos, the native place of Anacreon, with a temple of Bacchus (pl. 12, fig. [6], plan; fig. [5], elevation). It is of the Ionic order; the columns 3 feet, 3\(\frac{1}{2}\) inches in diameter, by 25 feet in height, and all the proportions and details of a superior character and style. The temple was built 400 b. c., by Hermogenes.
Grecian architecture was at an early period introduced by emigrants into the colonies in the southern districts of Italy and the island of Sicily. Though the exact time of its introduction has not been determined, it is quite certain that elegant Grecian structures were in existence at Sybaris as early as 740 b. c., and that in the fifth century b. c., Grecian architecture was generally adopted in the erection of temples, theatres, and halls. Of all the ruins of purely Greek structures those of Pæstum, a city founded about 520 b. c. by the Sybarites, who had been driven from their country by the Crotoniats, are in the best state of preservation. The most remarkable among them is the temple of Neptune, known as the large temple at Pæstum (pl. 12, fig. 9, view of the ruins; pl. 10. fig. 20, pl. 15, fig. 1, restored elevation; fig. 2, and pl. 10, fig. 21, ground plan; pl. 20, fig. 8, the columnar order; pl. 19, fig. 1, a capital). The temple forms a parallelogram of 155 feet length, by a width of 75, with a portico of 36 Doric columns all round, which is approached by three steps. In the interior there are two rows of columns surmounted by architraves only, which must formerly have supported a second tier of columns, and it is therefore supposed that the temple was hypæthral. It had 6 columns in front and 14 at the sides, those near the corners being a little thicker and placed closer than the others, but all without any swelling. The architraves in the interior are connected with the wall of the cella by stone beams which must have supported the floor of the galleries, which were approached by stairs in the pronaos. The walls of the cella have only the height of the architraves on the lower columns, and it appears that they must have been surmounted by some contrivance for admitting light into the cella, similar to that of the hall at Carnak (p. 13). Some writers are of opinion that this upper side-light is exactly what the Greeks termed hypæthros, and that they therefore derived the latter from Egypt.
The temple of Ceres, known as the smaller temple at Pæstum (pl. 11, fig. 18, pl. 15, fig. 14), has 6 columns in front and rear, and 13 on each side. The columns of the peristyle are still standing, whilst in the pronaos only the bases and part of the shafts are left. The second row of columns is elevated one step above the first, and is one step lower than the two rows in the rear. These columns are the only Doric ones with 24 flutes instead of 20. The capital (pl. 19, fig. 3) differs from the ordinary Doric in the construction of the neck. The columns of the pronaos are the only Grecian Doric columns with a base.
The Basilica of Pæstum was also of the Doric order, with capitals like those in the temple of Ceres, but with considerably swelled shafts. The building (pl. 10, fig. 24, elevation; fig. 25, plan) was 160 feet in length, by 75 in width, and had 9 columns in front and rear, and 18 on the sides. In the interior, opposite to the third columns of the front and sides, are two pillars, with three columns between them, and it is probable that there was a similar arrangement in the rear. The walls marked in the plan probably supported upper rows of columns. In the centre was another row. The whole was thus divided into four naves between five rows of columns, which were connected by beams resting on the outside entablature, and supporting the roof. The building was probably used as a market hall, like the Stoa at Athens.
The Island of Sicily had at one time still more remarkable monuments of architecture than Greece itself, but in consequence of the wars of the Carthaginians and the Romans, during which many of them were entirely destroyed, only few and unimportant ruins have been preserved to the present time. At Syracuse are the ruins of the mausoleum of Archimedes, a few rock-cut stairs of a theatre, and twelve Doric columns of 6\(\frac{1}{2}\) feet in diameter, which formed part of the magnificent temple of Minerva (pl. 15, fig. 19, plan), and are introduced in the new cathedral. The doors of the temple were of bronze, inlaid with gold and ivory. A number of excellent paintings belonging to the temple were carried to Rome by Verres.
The city of Agrigentum, the largest on the island next to Syracuse, contained a temple of Minerva, located on the plateau of the rock at the foot of which the city lay, of which no traces are left. There are considerable remains of a Doric temple of Juno Lucina, which was erected on a plinth 10 feet high, and had 6 columns in front and rear, and 13 on each side. This temple contained one of the best works of Zeuxis, a picture of Juno.
Another temple has been almost entirely preserved. It was consecrated to Concordia, situated on a hill covered with trees of the aloe family, built of a bright yellow limestone upon a substructure of six steps. It is one of the most beautiful Grecian monuments, exhibiting exquisite proportions (pl. 10, fig. 18, elevation; fig. 19 and pl. 11, fig. 14, plan).
The temples of Æsculapius, Hercules, and Jupiter, have almost entirely disappeared. The latter temple, also called the Temple of the Giants, was 310 feet in length, by 160 feet in width, and 120 feet in height. It was a pseudodipteros, and the columns were 66 feet high, by 9 feet in diameter. There were eight in front and rear, placed at distances of one diameter. The flutes were so wide and deep that a man could find room in their recess. Fragments of colossal statues have been found, which apparently supported some part of the building. They probably stood on half side-walls of the cella, with the architrave resting on them, thus forming openings to admit light into the interior. The temple, erected 420 b. c., was destroyed by an earthquake, and its materials were used for the quays of the harbor.
The colossal ruins at Selinuntiæ, the present Pillori, are very remarkable, and unmistakably of Grecian origin. The place was sacked by Hannibal, and earthquakes have completed the work of destruction. Its largest temple was that of Jupiter Olympius (pl. 12, fig. 10, elevation; fig. 11, plan). It was a pseudodipteros of the Doric order, with 8 columns in front and 17 at the sides, 48 feet, 7 inches high, by 10 feet in diameter. It was a hypæthral building, 311 feet long, by 158 feet in width, and stood on an isolated hill in the plain of Selinuntiæ, upon a substructure on which two other Doric temples were also erected. The first of the latter (pl. 11, fig. 16, plan) is very much dilapidated. Its proportions were 216 feet, by 94, and its fluted columns were 32 feet high, by a diameter of 6 feet, 7 inches. The other (fig. 17, plan) was 174 long, and had columns of 5 feet, 6 inches in diameter. Both these temples had columns all round, the former being a pseudodipteros, with two rows of columns in the pronaos, separated by a double columnar distance.
On the acropolis are three Doric peripteros temples, the smallest of which (pl. 16, fig. 21, plan) is the southernmost. Between it and the next towards the north there is a small Ionic temple of only 16 feet front, with a portico of four columns. It has the peculiarity of having its pure Ionic columns surmounted by a Doric entablature, whose architrave, instead of the three Ionic stripes, exhibits two painted ornamental stripes, the third being replaced by the tænia with the drops. The triglyph capitals, as well as the panels and the cyma of the cornice, are painted.
The rival city of Selinuntæ was Segeste, the ally of Athens by which she was assisted in her unfortunate expedition against Syracuse. According to Cicero, her founder was Æneas, to whom one of her temples was consecrated. The only traces of the former splendor of this city are the ruins of a theatre, of the cisterns, and of a temple before the city attributed by some to Venus, by others to Diana. This temple, a view of which in its present condition is given on pl. 9, fig. 6, is in tolerably good preservation, except the roof. It has Doric mantled columns, 6 in front and rear, and 14 at the sides, placed on a substructure of three steps. Its proportions are 177 feet, by 74. The walls are executed in bound masonry of tufa. Each column consists of 12 or 13 stone rings, and is 31 feet high, by a diameter of 6 feet, 7 inches.
It is a remarkable fact that all the remains of ancient buildings in Sicily are of Grecian origin. All the temples, except the smallest in Selinuntiæ, are of the Doric order, and have capitals as bold and prominent as the oldest ruins in Greece. The most recent monuments date from 400 b. c., and the two temples of Jupiter at Agrigentum and Selinuntiæ have columns of a greater diameter than any temple in Greece.
In conclusion of this account of Grecian architecture we offer, from the illustrations given, and the short explanations of the same, the following general remarks:
The order principally adopted in Grecian buildings was the Doric, which was brought to the highest perfection of noble simplicity and exquisite proportions by the Greeks. The fluted columns, which were introduced into Greece from Egypt, are of older date than the smooth or mantled column.
The Greeks borrowed from the Egyptians the form of these temples and the method of surrounding them with columns, but added to the Egyptian entablature the frieze and the peculiar cornice, as well as the roof and gable.
The Doric order was ever faithfully adhered to by the Sicilian and Italian Greeks. The Ionic order was first introduced in the seventh century b. c., in the temple of Ephesus; it was introduced into Greece in the beginning of the 5th century b. c.: after 410 b. c., no new Doric buildings were erected in Ionia, and none in Attica and Peloponnesus after the middle of the 4th century b. c.
The Corinthian order occurs in no ancient building in Greece in the manner observed in Palmyra, Baalbec, and Rome. The comparatively few capitals of the Corinthian form met with in single buildings constitute no distinct order; the Corinthian capital was therefore, in all probability, not invented by the Greeks.
The Grecian style of architecture adhered, even in the most magnificently decorated buildings, invariably to a noble simplicity. The ornaments were masterpieces of painting or sculpture, which shared their claim to the attention of the beholder with no gaudy embellishments.
The exterior of the Grecian temple had no decorative ornaments; everything is based upon constructive architectural necessity; the mouldings of the cornice had a bold and beautiful profile.
The Grecian architects knew how to increase the effect of their buildings by erecting them in groups in the same place, or on or near a hill, producing, as it were, architectural pictures.
A careful survey and examination of the remains of Grecian monuments shows that the Grecian architects, in their designs for entire buildings as well as for details, never strictly followed monotonous rules, but preferred a well regulated variation, and understood how to make a tasteful choice between the largest and smallest proportions.
Phœnician or Syrian Architecture
The ruins of buildings at Palmyra and Baalbec are the only specimens of Syrian architecture which offer any chance for the study of the art of that country, all the remarkable and magnificent buildings which, according to the narratives in the Bible and the poems of Homer, existed in the cities of Tyre and Sidon, having entirely vanished from the surface of the earth, and no excavations having as yet been made.
Turning our attention first to the ruins of Palmyra, we find as the most prominent those of the Temple of the Sun (pl. 12, fig. 12, view, including part of the peribolus; pl. 13, fig. 6, plan). It was surrounded by a spacious court whose outer wall was lined with colonnades and had window-like openings. In the middle it had a double portico with gables and a highly decorative cornice (pl. 19, fig. 29, fragment). The temple itself had 8 Corinthian columns at the short sides and 15 on the eastern long side, whilst the western had only 12, and two strong pillars between which lay the entrance, a remarkable difference from the Grecian temples, which always had the entrance on the shorter side. These pillars had half columns at the fore corners and at the sides. The substructure of the temple is formed by nine steps. The columns are of the Corinthian order, 51 feet high, by a diameter of 4 feet, 8 inches, and placed on cubes. From the Attic base up to the height of 5 feet, the shafts exhibit convex beads, and from this height upwards to the capitals they are fluted. Each short wall had two Ionic half columns on the outside. The entablature is very rich, the frieze decorated with genii and garlands of flowers. The cella is 122 feet by 39, has a highly finished door on the long side, and eight windows; at both ends winding stairs lead to the roof. The ceiling above the two altars is richly decorated with sculptures, including a zodiac and deities in hexagonal panels, among which are Baal, Cronos or Moloch, Baaltis, Melcarthos, Adon, Mercury, and Astarte, corresponding to the Grecian deities Zeus, Artemis, Pluto, Helios, Poseidon, Hermes, and Here.
About 1440 feet from the northern comer of the peribolus are the ruins of a triumphal monument composed of three arches, the two smaller ones of which open into covered colonnades, 16 feet wide, and 4000 feet long, with a street between them of 37 feet in width. The columns are 3 feet, 3 inches thick, 28 feet high, and support a very rich entablature. The ceiling was composed of stone blocks, 20 feet in length. Judging from the remaining columns and their distances, the total number of columns must have been 1450. Nearly in the middle of the street between the colonnades are four large pedestals which formerly supported groups of sculptures (pl. 17, fig. 22a, plan; fig. 22b, elevation of one pedestal). At this place a circus of 10,000 feet in length abuts on the colonnades; this was also surrounded by columns, all of which, however, are lying in ruins. The colonnades end at a monument, by some considered to be a temple of Neptune, by others a mausoleum (pl. 16, fig. 27, plan). Its entrance was guarded by two winged genii, each soaring on a sphere. The six columns in front are of the Corinthian order and smooth, 2 feet, 11 inches thick, by 27 feet, 4 inches in height, placed on cubes of 2 feet, 11 inches, and supporting a gable, whilst they form a portico. The altar in the rear of the cella was surrounded by four columns supporting the richly decorated ceiling.
Beyond the circus are the ruins of five small Corinthian temples and of two other buildings. Between the Temple of the Sun and the opening of the colonnades is a single Corinthian column, 54 feet high and 5\(\frac{1}{4}\) feet thick, and another, 60 feet high, stands to the right of the colonnade. Both once supported statues. Near by is still another monolithic granite column 28 feet high, and at a short distance from it the ruins of the peristyle of a temple. West of the temple of Neptune are several important ruins, among which are those of a large palace, probably the palace of Odonatus, consort of Zenobia, or perhaps the assembly house of the city authorities. To the right of the colonnades is a small but beautiful temple (pl. 16, fig. 22, plan). It has smooth Corinthian columns, 28 feet high, and 3 feet, 1 inch thick, with the Attic base, which appears to have been generally adopted in Palmyra. The portico has 4 columns in front and 2 at the sides; the cella 4 comer pilasters; it is only 30 feet long, and has two windows, which, like those of the Temple of the Sun, prove that the ancients did not always avoid side-light in their temples.
In Heliopolis, or Baalbec, as in Palmyra, the most important ruins are those of the Temple of the Sun (pl. 13, fig. 2, plan). It consists of four large divisions, of a total length of 940 feet. The first division consists of a flight of steps, and the adjoining portico of 12 Corinthian columns, 42 feet, 8 inches high, and 4 feet, 3 inches thick, and beautifully moulded. Above the entablature was a low wall with bottom and top cornices, probably a later addition to replace a destroyed gable. The portico has two side halls and two gates in the rear wall. The second division is a hexagonal structure inclosing a large open court. Five sides of this building, including the one in the rear of the portico, formed as many halls, bounded towards the court by Corinthian columns, 26 feet high, and 2 feet, 9 inches thick, placed on isolated pedestals, 5 feet, 6 inches high. The halls were 60 feet long, by a width of 22 feet, and their side and rear walls were lined with two tiers of columns, the upper ones connected in pairs by gables. Between these halls were nine other smaller apartments, which, like the halls, may have been occupied by the priests. The court is 193 feet wide, and at present filled with ruins. The third division of the monument is a large quadrangular open court, 350 feet long, by 336 feet in width, three of whose sides, including that adjoining the hexagonal court, are formed by eight halls, 58 feet long 22 feet wide, and 36 feet high, together with four semicircular and several smaller quadrangular apartments. In front of each hall stood four smooth Corinthian columns, 28 feet high, and two similar ones in front of each semicircular apartment. These 40 columns were exactly like those of the first court. The interiors of the halls exhibit similar double tiers of columns along the walls with the first halls, connected in pairs alternately by triangular and arched gables. The columns are 10 feet high, and the halls contain the total number of 352. In each niche formed by two connected columns was placed either an altar or a statue. Each of the semicircular apartments had five niches, decorated with pilasters supporting columns also connected in pairs by gables. They contained 40 such columns. In the rear of this court was the temple proper, the fourth division of the grand monument. It was 268 feet long, by 146 in width, and its peristyle was approached by several steps. It had 10 columns in front and rear, and 19 at the sides, of 72 feet, 5 inches in height, by a diameter of 7 feet. The gable and the cella are entirely destroyed. The buildings of the two first divisions stand over vaulted subterranean apartments, 23 feet high.
Another very remarkable monument in Baalbec is the temple of Baal or Jupiter, situated by the side of the quadrangular court of the Temple of the Sun, and of which we have given several illustrations (pl. 13, fig. 1, view; fig. 3, and pl. 16, fig. 16, plan; fig. 13, view of the interior through the large gate). This temple is a peripteros with two rows of 8 columns in front, one row in the rear, and 15 at the sides. They are of the Corinthian order, 62 feet high, by a diameter of 6 feet, 5 inches, and placed on plinths 2 feet high. The portico has a gable, and is approached by a flight of steps 17 feet high, or one seventh of the entire height of the temple. The second row of columns is only 56 feet high, and fluted. The columns of the peristyle are richly and tastefully ornamented, and the frieze has a very peculiar decoration. The spaces between the centres of the columns are divided into five parts, each with a foliated consol standing on the cymatium of the architrave, and supporting busts of animals, on which rests the cornice of the roof. These busts are connected by festoons of flowers. In the interior of the cella are at each side 6 fluted half columns, one quarter column, and one pilaster. Between the half columns are arches forming niches and supporting two small columns surmounted by a projecting gable, between which there were probably statues. The gate of the temple is of a bold profile, and, like the ceilings of the portico and pronaos, very richly decorated. The ceiling of the cella was arched with splendidly ornamented braces. The proportions of the cella are 114 feet, by 70, and it has no windows.
Besides the described monuments, Baalbec contains the ruins of a round temple, 32 feet in the clear, surrounded by six Corinthian columns, 29 feet high, and erected on a substructure 12 feet in height. In the interior it had a double tier of 14 Ionian columns below and 14 Corinthian above, and a number of small round and triangular gables. There are also some huge ruins, probably belonging to an ancient building of the Tuscan order, judging from an isolated granite column 60 feet high, 5 feet, 6 inches thick, smooth, and composed of 18 pieces, near the Temple of the Sun, and some enormous blocks of stone near it, which lie on a wall 20 feet high, and whose extraordinary proportions are 60–70 feet length, by a width and thickness of 12–14 feet.
We have, in conclusion, to add a few remarks on the period when the structures at Baalbec were probably erected, and by whom. According to the Bible (2 Chron. viii. 4, and 1 Kings ix. 18), a city was built by Solomon on the site of the present ruins of Palmyra about 1011 b. c, which, according to Flavins Josephus, was surrounded by a wall. The name of this city was Tadmor (city of palms), and on account of its favorable location between Jerusalem, Tyre, Sidon, and Babylon, it soon became an important emporium of commerce, and must have been a splendid place when it was sacked by ITebuchadnezzar 600 b. c., together with Jerusalem and Tyre. From this time forward New Tyre, the former port of Old Tyre, must have made rapid progress in wealth and civilization by the concentration of the world's commerce. Herodotus found there as early as the fifth century b. c. a temple of Melcarthos or Hercules, containing a statue of gold, and another of emerald. Tadmor is not mentioned again by ancient writers. It occurs again as Palmyra under the Seleucides (successors of Seleucus Nicator), about the middle of the third century b. c.; and it is probable that the buildings of Palmyra were erected before this time. At all events, it was before the conquest of Palmyra by Pompey (63 b. c.), for the inscriptions on the building are Palmyrenian. At the beginning of the first century b. c. Palmyra was a rich and influential place, whose alliance was coveted by the Romans, and as late as 260 a. d. it is mentioned as an important city. It is therefore very probable that the monuments at Palmyra belong to the second and third centuries b. c.
Baalbec was also founded by Solomon (1 Kings ix. 18), and called Baalath. In the year 59 a. d. when Crassus plundered the Temple of the Sun it was a renowned building, and Baalbec existed still in its full splendor under Augustus, when it was called Julia Augusta. Herodotus mentions the columns at Baalbec as surpassing all other known columns in height, and since the buildings still standing are of a more recent date, it is probable that he refers to the building of which we suppose the single Tuscan column to be a remnant. The magnificent structures of Baalbec must, however, have existed for centuries before the incursions of the Romans, for if they had built them their historians would have chronicled the fact.
But the proof that the monuments in Syria were built by native architects, and that their style was original and not copied from Boman patterns, can be furnished architectonically as well as historically, and in our account of the Roman Monuments we shall moreover prove that the Romans never had any original style of architecture of their own. Our arguments for the originality of the Syriac monuments are the following:
All temples of the Greeks and Romans had the entrance on the shorter side; the Temple of the Sun at Palmyra had it on the long side.
All Roman temples are but slightly longer than broad; those at Palmyra and Baalbec had a length of more than double their breadth.
The ornaments on the friezes, &c., in Syria are so peculiar as to vary materially from the Roman, and contain mystic emblems belonging to an ante-Roman period; for instance, the personification of Baal and winged genii, which do not occur on any Grecian or Roman building of that period.
The abaci of all the Corinthian capitals of Palmyra have truncated corners, whilst in all the buildings erected during the reign of Hadrian we find sharp-pointed corners on the abacus; after the conquest of Syria by Pompey Roman buildings show also the truncated abacus, which must therefore have been introduced from Syria.
The same may be said with regard to the modillions in the cornice, which do not occur in Roman buildings until after the conquest of Syria.
The Syriac columns are generally higher than the Grecian or Roman.
The grandeur of the Syriac monuments so far surpasses that of the Roman that the 846 columns of Baalbec and the 2000 and more of Palmyra (of from 42–70 feet in height) would have sufficed to furnish all the known public buildings of ancient Rome. How insignificant does not the largest Roman temple appear in comparison with the smaller temple of Baalbec? Can it be supposed that the Romans should have erected such edifices in a foreign country in preference to their own capital?
The rich ornaments on the window-frames, door-jambs and lintels, and the small round or triangular gables over windows and doors, do not occur in Roman buildings until after the conquest of Syria, where they had then existed for centuries in the wealthy city of Tyre. And finally, the placing of statues on consoles attached to the shafts of columns was not introduced either in Greece or in Rome until after that period.
All these facts must suggest the conviction that the Romans had no part in the erection of the buildings of Palmyra and Baalbec, and that they were not executed by the Seleucides is evident by a glance at the cities of Seleucus, Antiocha, and Damascus, which only contain fragments of small columns. The magnificent edifices of Syria are not therefore copies of Roman buildings, but in many respects their prototypes, and it is not unlikely that the Corinthian style of architecture originated in Phœnicia.
Roman Architecture to the Time of Constantine the Great
The higher architectonic art was introduced into Italy from foreign countries, especially into Etruria by Phœnician colonists,, and into the southern parts by Grecian settlers; and as both these people at first practised the art in the manner of their respective countries, we find in the oldest Italian monuments the Doric and Tuscan orders separately, but at a later period an amalgamation or rather mixture of the two. This is clearly perceptible in the plans of temples. The Tuscan temple is nearly an exact square, the Grecian a quadrangle with a length about double its breadth. The Etruscans introduced into Italy the art of arching, which they had learned from the Phœnicians, and as early as the 6th century b. c. arched the Cloaca Maxima, when in Greece no trace of a regular vault was as yet found. We shall consider the ancient architecture of Rome in three periods: that of the kings, of the republic, and of the emperors.
The Period of the Kings
Of the oldest edifices of central Italy few or no traces are left; and, though the city of Ægillæ, in the neighborhood of Rome, in the time of the first Roman kings, formed a state of as much consequence as Rome itself, and the Tyrrhenians at that age were renowned for their skill in naval affairs as well as for the comfort of their dwellings, we are so completely without reliable information about their structures that with regard to the oldest Italian architectural history we can consider only the edifices of Rome. This unimportant colony had under the three first kings gradually risen to be a large city, so that Ancus Marcius, the fourth king, was compelled, on account of the increase of the population, to extend the confines of the city beyond the Tiber, so as to include the Aventine and Janiculan hills, which he finished with walls and entrenchments, and connected with the city by a wooden bridge. He also founded the port of Ostia, extended the temple of Jupiter Feretrius, which Romulus had built, and caused the first prisons to be built in the quarries, leaving their completion to Servius Tullius. Remains of these prisons are still found in the neighborhood of the Forum, but they are of a more recent restoration of the same. The older Tarquin improved the walls of the city, founded the Forum for public assemblies of the mass of the people, and the large racecourse (Circus Maximus), besides beginning the work of the great system of sewers. He caused the top of the Tarpeian rock to be smoothed for the erection of the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, the foundation of which was made by him. His successor, Servius Tullius, added the Quirinal and Viminal hills to the city, and enlarged the district of the Esquiline. The walls and entrenchments which he completed remained unaltered until the latest times, as the city, after his day, was enlarged only by suburbs. He also erected on the Aventine hill a temple of Diana, designed as a sanctuary common to the allied cities of Latium, as was the temple of Diana at Ephesus to the allied cities of Asia. No trace of it is left, and it must have been vastly inferior to the magnificent edifice of Ctesiphon. Two other temples are attributed to him, viz. that of Bona Fortuna in the Forum Boarium, and that of Fortuna Virilis on the bank of the Tiber. A restoration of the latter, probably made under one of the later emperors, still exists (pl. 16, fig. 7, front; fig. 8, plan; pl. 19, fig. 7, a capital). It is a pseudoperipteros with four Ionic columns in front, a portico of two columns, and five half columns at the sides. The columns are 25 feet, 5 inches high, by a diameter of 2 feet, 11 inches, and are made of travertine marble, whilst the walls are of tufa. They have 20 flutes, but their capitals, with concave faces between the volutes, look less graceful than the chaste Grecian capitals of the same order. The temple with the entablature has had a plastering of marble dust, of which traces are perceptible. The temple of Jupiter Capitolinus was not continued under Servius Tullius. It was again taken up by Tarquinius Superbus, who, however, was banished before its completion, which was finally accomplished in the third year of the republic, when it was consecrated by the consul Pulvillus. It was destroyed by fire 415 years later, during the consulate of L. Scipio and C. Norbanus. It stood on a high substructure, and had 800 feet in circumference, the difference between its length and breadth being only 15 feet. The southern or principal front had three rows, the other sides two rows of distantly placed columns. The entablature was of wood. It was of the Tuscan order, with proportions in altitude like the Doric. Its three naves were consecrated respectively to Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva. Tarquinius Superbus built also, with the assistance of the 47 cities of Latium, a temple on the Alban mountain, in which sacrifices were offered down to the latest time of heathenism. Only a few blocks of tufa are left to mark its site.
The Period of the Republic
The banishment of the kings took place in the 244th year of the city, or 509 b. c. The first years of the republic were marked by considerable architectural improvements. On the road from the Forum to the Capitol a temple of Saturn was erected, which for several centuries was used as the state treasury. Soon after, the dictator Posthumius erected two temples dedicated to Ceres and to Castor and Pollux, 482 b. c. The latter was located near the Forum and the temple of Vesta, and was rebuilt by the emperor Augustus. The former stood above the circus, on the slope of the Aventine hill, and was dedicated, besides, to Ceres, Bacchus and Proserpine. Both temples were built by Damopbilus and Gorgasus, the first Grecian architects in Rome.
It will be appropriate to insert here a few remarks on the Tuscan style of architecture, which about this period was introduced into Rome by Etruscan architects, and adopted in all the principal buildings. The columnar proportions were similar to the Doric, 5 or 6 diameters in height, the difference being in the columnar distances, which with the Tuscans were much wider, on account of their constructing the entablature of wood, mostly without any frieze, the rafters being cut off slantingly and covered with a board. To their columns they gave a round plinth and a very simple capital. The ornaments were of burnt clay. At a later date the Romans adopted the nobler Doric style, and the Tuscan was only retained in central Italy. The style of the Doric monuments in Rome was long that which we have mentioned in our description of the monuments of Pæstum, whilst in Greece it had already been materially improved.
In the year 434 b. c., the Villa Publica was built at Rome for the administrative assemblies, and in the year 430 b. c., the temple of Apollo was consecrated. Next followed the very important work of connecting the Alban lake, which occupies an extinct crater, with the city, by an aqueduct 7500 feet long, 7 to 8 feet high, and 5 feet wide, which is still in use. After the conquest of Veii, 395 b. c., the tutelar goddess Juno of this city was transported to Rome, and a temple built on the Aventine hill to receive the statue.
Up to this time the city and state of Rome had always been fortunate in war; but in the year 378 b. c., it was conquered by the Gauls and laid in ashes, with the exception of a few temples. As early as one year later, it was already rebuilt, but without any regular plan, and partly of sun-dried bricks, on solid substractures. In the year 365 b. c., when the people had obtained the right of electing a consul from among themselves, and all internal feuds had been discontinued, the temple of Concordia was built on the slope of the Capitoline hill, of whose later restoration eight granite columns, surmounted by the entablature, still exist. The walls of the city were also renewed in solid bound masonry, and in the year 328 b. c., the lists of the Circus Maximus were built.
With few exceptions, none of the buildings previous to this time had any of the grand features of Grecian architecture. During the next centuries the principal works consisted of highways, bridges, and waterworks, and it was not until the 7th century of the city, about 50 b. c, that greater efforts were made in magnificent architecture. The buildings of the republic, down to that period, belong to five different classes, and we mention them accordingly.
1. Temples. The piety which characterized the Romans of the earlier ages was still unabated in the present. Religious feeling was evinced on all occasions. Every victory or success in peaceable pursuits was attributed to the mercy of the gods; every defeat or failure to their wrath. Numerous vows were made and kept of erecting temples, partly from motives of gratitude, in part of atonement. When at a later date the philosophy of the Greeks had become naturalized in Rome, the simple works of piety were superseded by the products of the love of splendor and of vanity in the times of Marius and Sylla, of Pompey and Julius Cæsar. In the year 301 b. c., Babulsus dedicated a temple to the goddess Salus, which was renowned for the pictures on its walls by Fabius Pictor, which were preserved to the time of the emperor Claudius. The temple of Bellona, erected 295 b. c., by Appius Claudius, was also renowned for beautiful paintings and sculptures. During the next three years were erected the temples of Jupiter Victor, Victoria, and Venus; the latter built by Fabius Gurges with the money collected from several matrons as fine for committing adultery.
VII. Plate 17: Monumental and Triumphal Architecture in Greece and Rome
In the year 290 b. c. the temple of Æsculapius was erected on the island of the Tiber. With a view to avert the calamity of the plague a ship had been sent to Epidaurus, which brought home the genius of this god in the shape of a serpent. In commemoration of this expedition the entire island was girdled with bound masonry in the shape of a ship; of this wall there are still ruins to be seen. The island was connected with the city by two bridges, the Pons Fabricii and Pons Cestii. Pl. 17, fig. 8, gives a sectional view of the island, with the temple and its portico as last rebuilt, the obelisk erected by Augustus (the top at fig. 8a), and the two bridges. The temple of Æsculapius was of the Doric order, with 6 columns in front. The bridge of Fabricius (fig. 9, view; fig. 11, section), erected 62 b. c., by that consul, and rebuilt, 1680 a. d., by Pope Innocent XI., is 233 feet long, 20 feet wide, and consists of one large and two small arches of bound masonry. The bridge of Cestius (fig. 10, view; fig. 12, section), erected in the year 35 b. c., is 165 feet, by 30, and had two arches of 72 feet span, with three small arched openings in the piers. Fig. 13 exhibits a coin from the time of Antoninus Pius, representing part of the bridge of Cestius and of the buildings on the island. The foreground is occupied by the god of the river Tiber, and the symbol of Æsculapius, the serpent which was worshipped in his temple.
About this time Duilius and Attilius erected in the Forum Olitorium, near the theatre of Marcellus, three small temples, dedicated respectively to Pietas, Spes, and Janus. The first (pl. 15, fig. 16, plan) was a Doric peripteros; the second (fig. 18, plan) was of the Ionic order, with smooth columns on three sides and pilasters in the rear; and the temple of Janus (fig. 17, plan), which some archaeologists attribute to Juno Matuta or Sospia, was an Ionic peripteros with two rows of columns both in front and rear. These three temples placed close together on an elevation of three steps show that the ancients sometimes grossly violated the laws of symmetry, the Doric temple being much smaller than the two Ionic, of which, again, the one on the right hand was smaller than that on the left. The details exhibit the same diversity both in appearance and proportions. The columns of the Doric temple were 2 feet, 4 inches thick, by a height of 7.65 diameters; the smooth columns of the smaller Ionic temple were 2 feet, 10 inches, 5 lines, and 9 diameters high; and the fluted columns of the larger Ionic temple were 3 feet thick, by a height of 9.21 diameters.
To this period belong also the temples of Tempestas, consecrated by Caius Corn. Scipio; of Venus Erycina, by Fabius Maximus; of Concordia on the capitol; of Libertas on the Aventine hill; and a temple of Honor and Virtue at the Porta Capena, with two cellas, and decorated with many works of art which Marius had brought from Syracuse. This temple was of the Doric order, and had 6 columns in front and rear and 11 at the sides placed only at one diameter's distance from the walls. The temple of Hercules and the Muses in the Circus Flaminius, consecrated by Fulvius Nobilius, was decorated with the statues of the deities carried away from Greece.
The comparative smallness of the temples of Rome in this period is evinced by the circumstance that Fulvius Flaccus, 171 b. c., intending to erect a temple of Fortuna Equestris, which should be larger than any other temple in Rome, proposed to take for its roof half the marble tiles of the temple of Juno on the Lacinian promontory, but was refused them by the people.
Quintus Metellus was the first to favor magnificent architecture. With the booty of his victorious Macedonian campaign, 147 b. c., he erected a temple to Jupiter Stator, and one to Juno, the first temples of marble in Rome. They stood near together on a spacious place surrounded by a peribolus with a portico, which was later restored by Augustus, and is, therefore, sometimes quoted as the portico of Octavia, but oftener, and with more propriety, by its older name of Portico of Metellus. In illustration of these edifices we have given a front view of the portico (pl. 13, fig. 14), a ground plan of the entire group (fig. 15), and a plan of the temple of Jupiter a little larger (pl. 12, fig. 17). The portico, a (pl. 13, fig. 14), consists of two rows of fluted Corinthian columns, 36 feet, 6\(\frac{1}{2}\) inches high, 3 feet, 4\(\frac{1}{2}\) inches thick, and placed at distances of 1\(\frac{1}{2}\) diameters. Each row consists of four columns and two pilasters, on which rests the gable. The front and rear pilasters are connected by walls containing the gates to the right and left colonnades which had a front of 10 columns each, the whole front being 100 feet. The temples of Jupiter and Juno were at o and d respectively, whilst in the rear was the school of Octavia. The interior of both temples was profusely ornamented with works of art by the greatest masters, among which were Praxiteles, Polycles, and Dionysius. The first structure which Metellus caused to be erected by the Grecian architects, Saurus (lizard) and Batrachos (frog), has Ionic columns; the restoration made under Augustus by the architect Hermodorus was of the Corinthian order. It is said that the first architects had worked without remuneration in the hope of being permitted to perpetuate their names by an inscription on the temple, but that this honor was refused them; when they introduced on the bases of the columns a sculptured lizard and frog in order thus to hand their names down to posterity. When the temples were completed and nothing remained but to erect the statues of Jupiter and Juno, these statues were misplaced by mistake, so that the temple with the statue of Jupiter was decorated with emblems relating to Juno, and that of Juno with emblems having reference to Jupiter. The mistake, being regarded as the will of the gods, was not rectified. The temple of Jupiter was a peripteros, that of Juno a pseudoperipteros.
VII. Plate 14: Roman Forum and Various Amphitheatres
Three columns of another temple of Jupiter Stator on the Forum Romanum are still in good preservation on what is now the Campo Vaccino or cattle market (pl. 14, fig. 113, view; pl. 19, fig. 12, capital; fig. 20, base). They are 4 feet, 5 inches, 9 lines in diameter, by a height of 45 feet, 3\(\frac{1}{2}\) inches. Some archaeologists deny the fact of there having been two temples of Jupiter Stator, and attribute these columns to a colonnade of Caligula which connected the Capitol and Palatine hills; others again call them remains of the temple of Castor and Pollux.
An important building of this period is the temple of Mars in the Circus Flaminius, which must not be confounded with that of Mars Ultor, erected at a later date by Augustus. Marius also, after his victory over the Cimbri and Teutons, erected another temple of Honor and Virtue, which was a peripteros without posticum, of beautiful proportions, but of poor material.
The temple of Jupiter Capitolinus was destroyed by fire, 137 b. c., probably the work of incendiaries, and Sylla immediately commenced rebuilding it, by order of the oracle, of the same form, but with the addition of the marble columns which he had brought from Athens, having taken them from the temple of Jupiter Olympius which was in course of construction by Pisistratus. He had the roof made of gilt bronze plates. Five years after the fire the new temple was consecrated by Lutatius Catulus, whose name shone on it until the second destruction by fire under Vespasian.
Pompey built in the Circus Maximus a temple near his own theatre, and dedicated it to Venus Victrix, whilst Julius Cæsar, during his third consulate, erected in his own forum a temple to Venus Genetrix, an offering which he had vowed before the battle of Pharsalia.
2. Markets, Basilicas, Curiæ. The public squares (fora) were of two kinds, such as served for meetings of the people for the transaction of the affairs of state, as the great Forum Romanum and the markets or sales places proper, as the Forum Boarium or cattle market, and the Forum Olitarium, or oil and vegetable market. Marcus Fulvius Nobilius. caused a market to be erected outside the Porta Trigemina, which was surrounded by colonnades and served for the sale of the goods that arrived on the Tiber, and another between the cattle and vegetable markets which served as a market for fish and other provisions. The Forum Julium, built by Julius Cæsar, was much more important. It was built with the booty of the Gallic war, and about three millions of dollars were expended for the acquisition of private property alone to gain the necessary space. It contained, among other buildings, the above mentioned temple of Venus Genetrix and the Basilica Julia, uncompleted. Of the Forum Romanum as it is at present we have given a perspective view (pl. 14, fig. 1), which shows how few traces are left of its former splendor. The Forum is now called the Campo Vaccino, or cattle field. Of the objects which stand there the most important are: 1, The Triumphal Arch of Septimius Severus; 2, The Church of St. Adrian; 3, The Temple of Antoninus and Faustina (now the Church of St. Lorenzo); the Via Sacra, or Sacred Way, is the centre of our view; 4, The Temple of Remus; 5, The Temple of Peace; 6, The Church of Santa Francesca; 7, The Temple of Venus and Rome; 8, The Coliseum; 9, The Triumphal Arch of Constantine; 10, Triumphal Arch of Titus; 11, The Farnesian Gardens; 12, Santa Maria, the Liberator, and opposite, the Temple of Castor and Pollux; 13, Temple of Jupiter Stator; 14, The Curia; 15, Temple of Romulus; 16, Temple of Fortune; 17, Temple of Jupiter Tonans; 18, The Column of Phocas; 19, Temple of Concord. We shall hereafter have an opportunity of speaking of most of these buildings.
United with the Forum was the Curia, where the Senate assembled. Upon the Roman Forum there was also one (pl. 14, fig. 114) originating with Tullus Hostilius, and hence called Curia Hostilia. This curia was rebuilt by Sylla, but was burnt some years afterwards by the populace. M. Æmilius Lepidus demolished another building on the same spot, also bearing the name of Sylla, and Julius Cæsar built upon its site the Curia Julia, which, however, Augustus completed and adorned with fine works of art. Pompey built another curia outside the city and near his theatre; and it was here that the Senate met on the day that Cæsar was murdered and fell at the very feet of Pompey's statue.
According to Vitruvius, the Basilicas should also be placed upon the market-place. They served partly as courts of justice, partly as exchanges for merchants. The style of arrangement the Romans took from the Greeks. In Athens the building in which the archon sat in judgment, under the name of basileus or king, was called the stoa of the basileus, or briefly Basilica; hence the name. M. Porcius Cato was the first, who, 183 years b. c., began such a building. This Basilica Porcia lay near the curia of the great Forum, was burned with it 52 years b. c., and was never rebuilt. Fulvius Nobilior built the Basilica Fulvia, by the stalls of the money-changers, on whose site a much more magnificent building was afterwards erected. Besides these, there were also in Rome the Basilica Sempronia, built by Tiberius Sempronius, to make room for which the dwelling-house of Scipio Africanus was demolished; the Basilica Opimia, Basilica Emilia, then the Eegia, which Pompey built near his theatre. The finest, however, was the Basilica Pauli, which Æmilius Paulus erected upon the site of the Basilica Fulvia, with columns of Phrygian marble.
The basilicas claim our especial attention, because from them was derived the form of the Christian church. Thus the Basilica Fulvia or Pauli is now the church of St. Porcia, and the basilica of Sempronius is the church of St. George in Velabrum. The Roman basilicas formed a quadrangle, whose breadth was not more than the half, and not less than a third of the length, if the situation permitted. At the end of the length of the building, additions (calcidica) were built, in which were chambers where refreshments were served. Generally, the basilica stood upon the south side of the forum. The basilicas were distinguished from the hypæthral temples in this, that they had no exterior columns, but a covered vestibule in front, in the back of which shafts or pillars were placed. In the interior of such a building were two or four rows of columns, and in the rear an elevation or tribunal, which was separated by a railing, and probably intended for the peculiar seat of the praetor. The columns, with the half columns against the walls, supported the roof in most basilicas. In some, however, there was a wall, pierced with windows, over the columns. The church of St. Paul outside the walls, St. Mary in Trastavere, St. Peter in Vincoli, give the best idea of the form and means of illumination of such basilicas. In front of the basilicas there were no porticoes reaching to the roof; and where columns were used, they were low, and formed the façade of the vestibule, which had no gable. There were often two tiers of columns in the basilicas, one over the other, with raised galleries.
3. Buildings for Public Amusement. At this period the buildings for public amusement were much enlarged. We reckon here the theatres, amphitheatres, the naumachia, and the circus. The plays were at first of religious origin; later they were regarded as methods of gaining popular favor, and became objects of the most extravagant expenditure and magnificence. The first play took place in Rome in the year 460 b. c., when, during a long, lingering pestilence, actors were summoned from Etruria to propitiate the gods. Earlier, there had been only combats in the circus. The actors amused the people with comical gestures and leaps, to the sound of flutes. Then verses were intermingled, and so gradually arose a kind of song-play, called Satyra. Livius Andronicus first connected the whole by a continuous story, which he caused to be sung with appropriate action, and hence arose the dialogue, Æmilius Lepidus built the first theatre, 178 years b. c., yet the sturdy Romans were so opposed to it that it was destroyed, as it was held unmanly to enjoy one's self in a sitting posture.
In the year 75 b. c. there was a convenient and even splendid theatre, erected with a velarium, or sun tent, to shield the spectators from the sun. The theatre which Scaurus, stepson of Sylla, erected 57 years b. c., seated 80,000 people. Curio, 48 years b. c., built two wooden theatres close together, which turned on pivots. During the day they were turned away from each other and plays were performed in both; then, with all the spectators they were turned together and formed one amphitheatre, in which combats took place. Modern mechanics will hardly credit this story; but so great was the zeal to win popular favor by something striking and wonderful, that in Pompey's theatre water was made to run down the aisles between the seats, in order to refresh spectators during the heat of summer. Behind the stage was a hall of columns to which the audience might retreat on occasion of a sudden shower. Julius Cæsar also began the construction of a huge amphitheatre of stone, which Augustus completed, and dedicated to the memory of his nephew Marcellus, son of his beloved sister Octavia. Pl. 14, fig. 2, represents the amphitheatre of Flavins, the coliseum, partly in section, and fig. 3 half the ground plan, with the ground level on the right, and the staircases upon the left. We shall presently return to this theatre.
The Naumachia were built like the amphitheatres, and contained so much water that ships could float and sail in them. Under the head of Naval Sciences we have spoken of these structures, and have there also represented such a Naumachia (Division VI. pl. 2, fig. 12).
The games of the circus were practised in Rome from the earliest times, and the great circus, in the time of Tarquin, was already an important building. The second structure of this kind was the Circus Flaminius, and then the circus of Flora, between the Quirinal and Pincian hills. The building received its essential alteration, however, in the great circus of Julius Cæsar. It was extended in length so that it was 3\(\frac{1}{2}\) stadia long, and 400 feet broad. It was surrounded by a canal of water 10 feet deep. The lower story had stone; the upper, wooden seats. Three sides were appropriated to the spectators, of which it accommodated 150,000. The fourth contained the inclosures for the horses. In the historical division of this work we have treated of the circus games, and there also (Division [III]., pl. 14) the reader will find illustrations of the various objects appertaining to it, with sketches of the elevation, ground plan, and section of the circus of Nero.
4. Sepulchral and Honorary Monuments. Monuments of honor were either porticoes, single pillars, or triumphal arches. The porticoes were not alone united with public buildings, but were often independent structures, and very agreeable resorts under the beautiful and burning sky of Italy. They were richly adorned, and statues, bas-reliefs, and paintings were placed in them. Garden retreats, groves, and fountains were often in the neighborhood. Even at this period there were many such buildings, but there were more under the emperors.
In the year 191 b. c., Æmilius Lepidus and Æmilius Paulus built two colonnades, one outside the gate Trigemina, on the Tiber, the other beyond the gate Fontinalis, towards the field of Mars (Campus Martins), as far as the altar of Mars. Cneius Octavius erected a famous double colonnade in honor of his triumph and the capture of Perseus in Samothrace. This colonnade, between the Flaminian circus and the theatre of Pompey, was magnificently restored by Augustus. The colonnade which Metellus Macedonicus built around the temple of Jupiter and Juno, is represented in elevation in pl. 13, fig. 14, and the ground plan after the restoration of Augustus, in fig. 15. Minutius, as proconsul, also built, from the booty of his victory over the Scordisci, a colonnade, which he named from himself, and which attracted attention even under the emperors. Q. Lutatius Catulus built one upon the Palatine hill, on occasion of his victory over the Cimbri, close by the house of Cicero, after whose banishment it was destroyed together with the house. Pompey also built a noble colonnade by his theatre, with garden walks.
Memorial columns are also of considerable antiquity. The first was the Columna rostrata, erected in honor of C. Duilius in the year 260 b. c., after his naval victory over the Carthaginians. (See Division VI., pl. 2, fig. 25.) It was of white marble. The people erected a column of Numidian marble, 20 feet high, to Julius Cæsar, with the inscription, "To the Father of his Country." A columna rostrata, with anchors, was erected to Octavianus Cæsar, in honor of his naval victories over Sextus Pompeius, on the summit of which stood the golden statue of the conqueror.
Triumphal arches were also honorary memorials. Upon these the statues of the victors were placed. Lucius Stertinius, in the year 195 b. c., erected two such arches, with gilded statues, from the Spanish spoils, one upon the Forum Boarium, the other near the great circus. Six years afterwards, Scipio Africanus the elder built a similar one upon the Capitol; and Fabius Maximus, after his victory over the Allobrogi, the Fabian arch on the Via Sacra, near the old Regia. More frequent and more magnificent were these arches under the emperors, and under the head of the Empire we shall return to this subject.
Ancient as is the custom of sepulchral monuments, we shall here mention only the tomb of the Horatii, pl. 17, fig. 23a, plan; fig. 23b, elevation. This tomb is situated near Albano, and is called the Tomb of the Horatii and Curiatii, although some antiquarians reject the tradition, as it does not strictly harmonize with the historical descriptions, exhibiting truncated cones instead of pyramids. They refer the tomb to the last days of the republic. By this time, however, the use of splendid tombs was very common. They were erected upon all the great highways; yet very few remain except those at Pompeii. To these belongs the tomb of Scipio, which was situated upon the Appian Way by the Porta Capena; later, however, under Aurelius, it was included within the circuit of the city walls. In the year 1782, the subterranean portion was again disinterred. It seems to differ very little from that of the catacombs, of which we have given a description and a drawing in the historical part of this work. (See plates, Division [III]., pl. 19, fig. 11.) The most important relic found in it was the sarcophagus of Scipio Barbatus, who was consul in the year 297 b. c. Upon this sarcophagus the oldest specimen of the Doric and Ionic order that we have in Rome is graved in relief. The most sumptuous, and in the important parts the best preserved tomb of this time, is that of Cecilia Metella, the wife of Crassus. It is situated on the Appian Way, and consists of a round tower, which is built upon a square substructure. The mass of the tower consists of little square quarry stones, and externally it is neatly covered with huge ashlers of travertine. Round the upper part runs a simple cornice moulding, and underneath a frieze, adorned with heads of bulls and clusters of fruit. Under that is the tablet with the inscription. An arched entrance opens into the interior, which is contracted conically and arched flatly, and contained a sarcophagus, which is now in the Farnese palace.
5. Bridges. The Romans, as we have already mentioned, were very good hydraulic architects, and their bridges, which have descended to our time, are remarkable not alone for their tasteful design and their fine style, but for the quality of the material and their careful and exemplary finish in the slightest details. We had already, in the description of the island of the Tiber and the temple of Æsculapius, opportunity of mentioning the two bridges of Fabricius and Cestius, and gave there (pl. 17, figs. 9–13) detailed drawings of them. To these we now add the bridge of Æmilius (pl. 17, fig. 14), at present known as the Ponte Molle. This bridge was also called Pons Sublicius, Pons Herculis, Pons Lepidi, Pons Sacer, and was the oldest originally wooden bridge of Rome, founded by Ancus Marcius, in the year 638 b. c. It led from the Aventine into the valley below the Janiculum, and, falling into decay, was rebuilt of marble by the consul Æmilius Lepidus, 32 years e.g. One hundred years later, it was injured by the Tiber, and restored by Tiberius and by Antoninus Pius. But in the year 791 of the Christian era, it fell in entirely. Some of its piles are yet visible in the Tiber. Fig. 15 represents a part of the Bridge of Senators. It led from the Roman Forum towards the Janiculum, and was the first stone bridge in Rome. It was built in the 127th year of our era, by Marcus Fulvius Flaccus. It was 500 feet long, 40 feet broad, and was destroyed in the year 1598. Only three arches remain, known by the name of Ponte Sotto. Before its destruction it was called Ponte Santa Maria Egiziaca.
The Period of the Emperors
The present epoch embraces the history of architecture in Rome under the Roman emperors, up to the decline of art under Constantine the Great. The theatre of art is now mainly Rome and Rome alone. Rome is its centre. The chief structures were erected, and whatever was done in the provinces received its impulse and reward from the emperor. So long as the empire was powerful, art maintained itself at the highest point. Its decline dates from the two Antonines, and then is more striking in the spiritual than physical regard. Colossal works yet arose, but no longer in the spirit of the epochs of Augustus, Trajan, and Hadrian. The technicality of art held its ground, but already the spirit was visibly declining. Of all the greatness of the Augustan age, nothing but the appearance remained in that of Constantine, and in nothing was decay so evident as in works of art.
We shall now proceed to mention the architectural enterprises of the various emperors, and begin with
1. Augustus. The battle of Actium, 31 years b. c., determined the universal dominion of Octavius Cæsar, who assumed, later, the name of Augustus. The Roman rule, enormously extended, could no longer exist as a republic. A series of civil struggles preceded the momentous change, and showed that weary mankind could rest and refresh itself only under the rule of one man. Augustus exercised with moderation the power that had fallen to him, and under him Rome enjoyed a repose and prosperity which Were unknown to the earlier Romans. During his reign of 43 years peace was disturbed only at a distance, and there were few military troubles. Augustus improved this peace and his great resources to adorn the metropolis, encouraging all his friends to a similar occupation.
We have already mentioned the buildings erected before the empire by Augustus and his friend M. Agrippa, his son-in-law and heir.
When Octavianus Cæsar returned victorious from Egypt, 30 years b. c., the senate and the people erected to him a gate of honor at Brundusium, where he landed, and a second upon the Roman forum. A year afterwards he dedicated the Curia Julia and the temple (the Heroon) of Julius Cæsar. Some hold the columns yet standing upon the Forum, which we, with others, have attributed to the temple of Jupiter Stator, to be the remains of this temple. Besides the Curia Julia the unfinished Basilica Julia was completed by Augustus, and as it was soon afterwards again destroyed by fire, it was once more rebuilt and adorned with a cbalcidicum. After Augustus had erected a temple to Apollo upon the Palatine, inclosing a Greek and Latin library, and a wooden stadium upon the field of Mars in the Grecian style, he commenced the restoration of the old, falling temples; of these restorations, if we may credit the Ancyranian inscription, there were not less than eighty-two.
In the same year that Augustus built the stately temple of Apollo upon the Palatine, he laid the foundation of a mausoleum for himself and his family It was built in the shape of a hill, upon a foundation of white marble, covered with evergreen trees, and upon the summit stood the statue of the emperor. In the interior of this artificial hill were compartments and chambers intended as burial-places for the household. The innermost of the four circular walls of which the skeleton of the building was formed, as in the gardens of Semiramis, is fallen, thereby discovering a round space large enough to form a ring for modern bull-fights. Before the building was a kind of propylæum, in which hung brazen tablets inscribed with the memorabilia of the emperor. These tablets have disappeared, but a copy of them is preserved in Ancyra in Asia, which we have just mentioned as the Ancyranian inscription. In the year 21 b. c. also took place the dedication of the Temple of Jupiter Tonans, of which we have already spoken, and which was raised upon the spot where the lightning struck a slave who was bearing a light before the emperor.
The three remaining columns of this temple belong to the portico; but they are too much laden with ornament for the Augustan age, and the remaining letters on the frieze, E S T I T U E R, belong to the word restituerunt, and indicate a reconstruction of the temple under Septimius Severus, who always joined his son's name with his own, and hence the plural restituerunt.
In the year 15 b. c. Augustus commenced one of his chief undertakings, the temple of Quirinus upon the Quirinal. It had 76 Doric columns, and as Augustus died afterwards in his 76th year it gave rise to a superstitious feeling in connexion with it. Yet a Doric dipteros having 8 columns in front and 15 in length, required this number of pillars, and was consequently symmetrical, as our ground plan shows (pl. 15, fig. 9). In the year 12 b. c. Augustus dedicated the theatre commenced by Julius Cæsar, but only then completed, and which he called, in honor of the dead son of his sister Octavia, the theatre of Marcellus, of which there are still important remains. The theatre contained 30,000 seats, and was consequently somewhat smaller than that of Pompey, which held 40,000 spectators. In this theatre the use of the dental ornament in the Doric entablature is remarkable, and does not occur before. The diameter of the orchestra is 180 feet, 4 inches, and the height of the wall 98 feet, 10 inches. Here are also the Doric half columns which gave the suggestion for the Doric order of Vignola and Daviler (pl. 23, fig. 2). Of the remains of the porch of Octavia, founded by Augustus (for the protection, possibly, of the spectators in the neighboring theatre of Marcellus from the rain), we have already spoken (p. 62).
Augustus erected also two obelisks, which he had ordered to be brought from Heliopolis in Egypt in the year 9 b. c.; the one consecrated to the sun and Osiris, in the Circus Maximus, in the midst of the spina, and the other, executed under Sesostris, upon the Campus Martins. The mathematician Manilius put them up, and as the obelisk of Sesostris was to serve as a dial-plate, a stone pavement was laid around it, upon which the shadow was indicated. Both obelisks still stand. Pope Sixtus V. took the one from the circus and erected it upon the Piazza del Popolo. Pope Pius VI. directed the architect Antinori to erect that from the Campus Martins upon Monte Citorio. The hieroglyphics upon the first have been deciphered by the famous archaeologist Professor Seyfarth of Leipsic.
To the greater and more splendid works of Augustus belongs the forum named from him, with the temple of Mars the Avenger which he built upon it, but which must not be confounded with a kind of chapel to Mars the Avenger which Augustus built upon the Capitoline hill, and in which the Parthian trophies were deposited. We give a ground plan of this hypæthral temple (pl. 13, fig. 7), of which 3 beautiful columns yet remain on the right wing. Their diameter is 5 feet, 6 inches, but the leaves in the capital have too little projection. A pilaster with convex capitals, some remains of masonry of the roof, and the cornice, of which, however, the moulding is gone, have come down to us.
Among the restorations of Augustus we must mention the temple of the Capitoline Divinities, the theatre of Pompey, the Lupercal (shrine of Pan), the temples of the Lares, of Minerva, of Juno Regina, and the vestibule of the goddess Liberty upon the Aventine, as well as a great number of larger or smaller water-works, naumachia, &c., &c.
Augustus not only adorned Rome with beautiful buildings himself, but he exhorted his friends to do the same. Among the most important of those which rose from his example and exhortation are the Septa Julia, built by Menenius Agrippa, in which the popular assemblies according to races were held; the porch of Neptune, in commemoration of naval triumphs; the Baths, and the Pantheon.
The Pantheon, the most beautiful building in Rome, throwing out what was added subsequently to Augustus, is the finest and best preserved monument of antiquity in the world. It was built under the republic, without the exquisite portico, which was added by Augustus and Agrippa. Pl. 17, fig. 4, gives the view of the building deprived of its later and injurious additions; fig. 5, the lateral section; fig. 6, the inner perspective; fig. 7, the ground plan. Pl. 19, fig. 13, is the representation of a capital from the portico, and fig. 21, a base from the portico. Agrippa dedicated this temple to all the gods, especially, however, to Jupiter Ultor and Cybele. Afterwards the portico was injured by lightning, but was restored under Severus and Marcus Aurelius. Pope Boniface IV. consecrated the temple as a Christian church. Urban VIII. elevated some columns that had fallen, but, alas! took away the beautiful bronze ornaments, and melted them into cannon, and into the tasteless altar of St. Peter's; and at last the two execrable towers were built upon the roof by Bernini. Clement IX. disfigured the portico by the railing, 14 feet high, between the columns.
The chief building of the Pantheon forms a complete circle, whose diameter is 153 feet, and 133 feet in the clear. The exterior has three grand divisions, with freestone cornices. The foundation is of white marble, the rest of the building is brick. Upon the chief wall rests the dome, covered with lead, and on the outside diminishing stepwise towards the apex. The height of the steps is 27 feet. The dome has at top a round opening 37\(\frac{1}{2}\) feet wide, with a bronze cornice, the means of illumination of the interior. The original façade, before the portico was built, had 4 pillars, upon which rested a great gable, which is now partly concealed by the gable of the portico. The colonnade added by Agrippa consists of 16 smooth Corinthian columns 44 feet, 1 inch in height. Eight of them stand in the front row (pl. 17, fig. 7). The corner columns are 4 feet, 8 inches in diameter, the middle 4 feet, 6 inches. The shafts of the columns are sculptured of a single block of granite; the capitals, bases, and the cornices are of white marble. The sides of the front and rear gables run parallel, and the cornice of the gable fields rests on consoles. The tympanum had sculptures, probably in bronze relief. Under the portico in the middle is the single door of the Pantheon. There is a bronze grating in the upper part of the door to admit light into the interior of the edifice. There are bronze rosettes in the little panels of the door. On its side are two large niches built of brick covered with stucco, as high as the door (36 feet, 1\(\frac{1}{2}\) inches), in which formerly stood the statues of Augustus and Agrippa. The latter is now in the palace Giustiniani in Venice. Agrippa's ashes lay in a fine sarcophagus which stood afterwards in one of the niches. It now contains the body of Pope Clement XII., and stands in the church of St. John Lateran.
The height of the interior of the Pantheon is equal to its diameter. There are two great side arches, supported upon 4 of the 14 columns which support the main cornice. One of these arches is in the further end, and under it once stood the statue of Jupiter; the other springs over the entrance. Besides these there are smaller chapels in the circumference of the interior; two form semicircles, the rest long quadrangles. Every chapel has pilasters upon the side, before which stand Corinthian columns wrought of yellow-veined marble, 3 feet, 4 inches in diameter, and 32 feet, 5\(\frac{1}{2}\) inches high. The shafts are each sculptured out of a single block, and the flutings are filled below with beads. Between the chapels stand eight altars. Each altar is formed of 2 little Corinthian columns 4\(\frac{1}{2}\) inches through with their entablature, cut in the style of the order which is still visible on the arch of Constantine, with a gable over it. The gables are alternately semicircular and triangular, the whole apparently imitated from the niches of the temples of Palmyra. The columns, partly of marble, partly of porphyry, partly of polished granite, stand upon high plinths. Behind each altar in the wall are empty semicircular chambers, which are repeated at every story. Doors lead to the lower ones, steps to the middle, doors again to the upper. These chambers serve for the saving of masonry, for the drying and airing of the walls, and for the diminishing of the pressure upon the foundation. The inside of the walls is covered entirely with marble. One half of the height consists of the dome and the other of the vertical wall, constructed partly of brick vaults, and forming arches over the architrave of the lower columns.
In the interior there are two dissimilar divisions; the under part consists of the columns above described and of the arches that interrupt their entablature. The upper part is a kind of upper story in which 14 openings, with handsome mouldings, are pierced, which let the side light fall upon the niches beneath. To interrupt the flatness of the surface there were formerly pilasters of porphyry, serpentine, and yellow marble placed against it, which were removed by order of Pope Benedict XIV. and replaced by paintings.
The cupola contains 4 rows of 28 deep panels, upon whose ground there were formerly bronze rosettes which Constantine II. despatched with several statues to Constantinople. But the ship was wrecked. In order to carry off the rain that enters through the opening in the dome, the floor, which is a mosaic of marble and other stones, inclines towards the centre where there is an escape for the water, which flows into a branch of the Cloaca Maxima and thence to the Tiber. When the Tiber rises, however, the floor of the Pantheon is overflowed by the inundation.
Formerly the entablature of the portico was of brass, and the whole building was covered with gilded bronze plates in the form of tiles. Urban VIII., however, replaced the bronze beams with wood and the tiles with a leaden roof, and melted the metal, as we have already stated. The baths of Agrippa were situated immediately behind the Pantheon, and pl. 17, fig. 7, shows a part of its ground plan. The ground plan of a Rotunda on the Appian way and that of one on the Via Prænestina, are precisely like that of the Pantheon, although on a much smaller scale (pl. 13, fig. 11).
Among the other important buildings of Agrippa were a great aqueduct, the colonnades of Europa, and the Diribitorium, which, however, he did not complete. The latter building was used as a place of popular assembly at elections, for the distribution of alms to the needy citizens and of pay to the soldiers, and was the largest building ever included under one roof, for it had beams of 100 feet in length and 1\(\frac{1}{2}\) feet in thickness. When the building fell into decay, no one would undertake its reconstruction.
Besides Agrippa, other friends of Augustus distinguished themselves by their buildings: Statilius Taurus, who built an amphitheatre, then the only one in Rome; Marcius Philippus, who restored the temple of Hercules and the Muses; Cornificius, who erected a temple to Diana; Asinius Pollio, who founded the first public library in Rome, in the hall of freedom built by him; Munatius Plancus, who restored the temple of Saturn, the treasury of Rome; and Balbus, who built a stone theatre upon the Campus Martins. Among these, too, must be named Tiberius, afterwards Emperor. He restored the temple of Castor and Pollux, and the temple of Concordia originally erected by Purius Camillus. This temple (pl. 13, fig. 4, elevation; fig. 5, plan), stood with its back to the Roman Forum, and near the temple of Jupiter Tonans, of which three columns yet remain. It was a prostylos with six Corinthian granite columns, with marble capitals and bases; and there were two windows and a door on the long side. Altogether the ground plan of this temple indicates a very peculiar construction and different from all hitherto in use.
To this time, also, belongs the building of the renowned pyramid of Cestius, and the so called Temple of Honor and Virtue above the fountain of Egeria, and termed by some also a temple of Bacchus and the Muses. Pl. 15, fig. 12, shows the elevation, and fig. 13 the longitudinal section of this temple, which is now the Church of St. Urban alia Caffarella. This structure has in front 4 columns, separated from each other by the space of 3\(\frac{1}{2}\) diameters. They are of the Corinthian style, with imperfect capitals, 2 feet 4 inches in diameter, 22 feet high, supporting a misemble brick wall with a gable at the top. The portico is now walled up, and arranged with windows and buttresses. The ceiling of the interior is a cylindrical vault, covered with stucco and disposed in octagonal panels. It rests upon a finely ornamented frieze, and the brick walls of the inside are divided by pilasters. For the rest, it seems as if the temple, as it now stands, had been built of ancient materials, but was not itself of ancient times.
Thus far we have only considered the architecture of the period in the city. We turn now to the works outside the city.
First we refer to Tivoli, the charm of whose landscape made it much sought as a country retreat. Here were the country seats of the illustrious Romans, and there yet exist considerable traces of the villa of Mæcenas. Quinctilius Varro, too, had here a villa of which some foundation walls and vaults yet remain. Here were the villas of Horace and Propertius, and there are relics of the superb country house of Plautius still to be seen. In the town itself there are two temples built next each other above the falls of the river Anio. The one is a round peripteros of which the greater number of columns, and the walls of the cella, with the door and one of the windows, as well as the substructure, remain. This temple is supposed to have been sacred to Vesta, and pl. 16, figs. 9 and 11, give general views of it. Fig. 10 gives a section, and fig. 12 the ground plan. It is in the Corinthian style, and the columns, whose bases are seen in pl. 19, fig. 19, are of travertine covered with stucco. The cella is built of volcanic stone in irregular work (opus incertum, p. 24). The other standing by it is a little prostylos pseudoperipteros in the Ionic style, and is regarded as a temple of the Tiburtine Sybil, contemporaneous in structure with the other. Pl. 16, fig. 38, gives its ground plan. Of the great temple of the Tiber, consecrated to Hercules, and in whose halls Augustus often sat in judgment, there are some remains in the chief church of the town. Of the antiquities of Præneste there are only a few remains of the Forum and of the basilica belonging to it.
In Cori, the old Cora, an ancient mountain town in Latium, there are the remains of two temples besides those of the Cyclopean walls. Of the one dedicated to the Dioscuri there yet exist two remarkable Corinthian columns; of the other, known under the name of the Temple of Hercules, of which we have given the ground plan, pl. 16, fig. 24, the columns of the portico, with the entablature and the door, and a part of the cella, are yet visible. The style is Doric, but its rules are not sufficiently followed to allow the temple to be quoted as a good example of that style.
In Pozzuoli the chief church is built upon the ruins of a temple of which several Corinthian columns remain. Near the city there are also the ruins of a round temple which was a monopteros, and dedicated to Jupiter Serapis. Pl. 13, fig. [9], shows the ground plan. The bases of the 16 pillars of the temple are yet standing, and three of the so called Cipollino marble columns of the quadrangular peribolus which surrounded the temple. There are also at Gaeta the ruins of the monument of Munatius Plancus, and at Naples the Tomb of Virgil and ruins of the temple of the Dioscuri.
Turning towards upper Italy we find besides the ruins of the bridges and of the arch of Augustus at Norni, a beautiful temple of Minerva in Assisi, now the church Maria della Minerva. It is a six columned prostylos of the Corinthian style, of which pl. 16, fig. 21, gives the ground plan. In Fano, the old Finestri, Vitruvius built a characteristic basilica, of which unhappily there are no remains, and which cannot be drawn after his description (lib. v. cap. 1), although Barbaro, Canina, Marini, and others have attempted it.
In Nismes, a provincial town of Augustus, there is, among other remains, a well preserved temple, dedicated by Augustus to the two sons of M. Agrippa, Caius and Lucius. This temple, of which pl. 15, fig. 10, gives a general view, and fig. 11 the ground plan, is a prostylos pseudoperipteros, with six columns in front and half columns around the cella. The building is very handsome, of the Corinthian style, and now known under the name Maison Quarree. At the foot of the Alps, near Torbia, there is the nucleus of a monument which was dedicated to Augustus, and known as the Trophseon of Augustus. From Pliny's description, Canina undertook its restoration, of which pl. 18, fig. 8, gives the elevation, and fig. 9, the ground plan.
By means of Roman conquests a better knowledge of art began now to diffuse itself over the countries adjacent to the Danube and the Rhine. Formerly those lands had neither cities nor boroughs. Each family lived alone on its own premises, and building with brick or quarried stone was equally unknown. Under Augustus, however, things assumed another aspect, and cities and villages arose along the Danube and the Rhine, and many important hydraulic works were undertaken. It is uncertain how far the limits of the Romans extended beyond the Rhine, and what was the precise direction of the stake-ditches that separated the Roman possessions from free Germany. Probably Nuremberg lay within the line, for its castle tower seems to be altogether Roman. Many cities, especially smaller ones, such as Rottweil and Villingen, indicate in their plans the form of the Roman camp with remains of towers and walls. Of Roman buildings, however, there are very few except at Treves and the Baths of Badenweiler; yet recently many more have been brought to light.
Further down the Danube two triumphal arches were erected in honor of Tiberius, remains of one of which exist at St. Petronell in lower Austria At Pola in Istria there are, among other remains of which we shall hereafter speak, those of a temple, of which pl. 16, fig. 25, gives the ground plan. It was a prostylos of the Corinthian order with plain columns, and, according to the inscription upon the architrave, dedicated to the goddess Roma, and to Augustus. The columns are 2 feet, 7\(\frac{1}{2}\) inches diameter, and 27 feet, 5 inches high.
2. Tiberius. As long as Augustus lived and Li via had some influence upon the dark mind of her son, he did not show himself indifferent to the higher aims of art. As ruler, however, he completed no fine building in Rome; and the single one which he undertook, the Temple of Augustus, he left uncompleted during his reign of 25 years, so that it was only first dedicated under Caligula. On the other hand he completed many restorations commenced by Augustus, or of buildings which had been burned. In the year 23 b. c., Tiberius, at the instigation of Sejanus, caused the Pretorian Camp to be built for the Body Guard, which measure, by the tumultuous spirit of the Pretorians inclining them constantly to revolt, proved dangerous to the Emperors. There exist some remains of this structure which Constantino destroyed. Among the buildings outside Rome we mention only the unfortunate theatre at Fidense near Rome. The architect Attilius, a freedman, had undertaken to build a wooden theatre in which spectacles should be exhibited for money. The Theatre fell during a representation, and injured 30,000 men, of whom, according to Suetonius, 20,000 died.
3. Caligula. The reign of this emperor was very short, but much too long for the happiness of mankind. Little was accomplished in building, for the extravagant plans of the emperor were left half finished. Under him, however, the temple of Augustus, commenced by Tiberius in Rome, was completed, and the restoration of the theatre of Pompey. The Palatine house, the usual residence of the emperors, was extended to the great Forum, so that the temple of Castor and Pollux formed the vestibule. Pl. 11, fig. 7, gives the general view, fig. 8, the ground plan of this temple. It was of the Corinthian order, and had 8 granite columns in front and 13 on the sides. The arrangement of the portico and of the pronaos is peculiar. In this temple, placing himself between the heavenly twins, the emperor received divine honors as Jupiter Latiaris. He built an especial temple to his own divinity, in which stood his statue, which was daily clothed as the emperor was dressed that day.
He commenced also a great aqueduct, which was afterwards completed by Claudius. The building of an amphitheatre upon the Campus Martins was soon relinquished. He began to build a circus upon the Vatican. He proposed to restore the temple of Apollo Didymseus at Miletus, and to cut through the isthmus of Corinth; but these plans were no more realized than that of building a city upon the highest pass of the Alps.
4. Claudius. The buildings of this emperor are more distinguished for their size and usefulness than for their number. Among them the Port of Ostia, the draining of the Fucinian lake, and the completion of the aqueduct commenced by Caligula, are to be mentioned. The building of the harbor of Ostia was, even at that time of enormous expenditures, one of the most enormous. A huge basin was hollowed out of the solid earth and surrounded by a wall of freestone. This was connected by a canal with the sea and with the Tiber, and at last an outer harbor was built into the sea by means of two piers. In order to protect the harbor from the sand and the piers from the waves, an artificial island was built, a large vessel loaded with sand and stone being sunk in the sea. Upon this island a lighthouse was erected. At this time, the temple of Jupiter Patulcius of Ostia, which had been struck by lightning in the year 200 b. c., was restored. Pl. 16, fig. 20, gives the ground plan of this temple, of which there are very few remains; sufficient, however, to show that it was of the Corinthian order and very richly ornamented. The cornice is remarkable, and in the interior the cella had Corinthian pilasters with very ornate capitals. The aqueduct, mentioned before, was 184 miles long, 144 of which were subterranean. This was united in the neighborhood of Rome with a second, 248 miles long, partly subterraneous, partly resting upon arches and substructures, leading from the Anio, whose troubled waters were first clarified in a peculiar reservoir. The united aqueduct extended then upon arches, some 109 feet in height, to the walls of Rome. 30,000 men labored for 11 years upon the draining of the Fucinian lake, and it was designed to use the area of the lake for cultivation. When the canal was ended, a great naval battle took place upon the lake. Then the Emperor and the people repaired to a great banquet held upon a scaffolding erected in the lake. The sluices were opened, and before the banquet was ended the lake was drained. Afterwards the sluices became stopped up by neglect, and the lake exists at the present day as under Claudius, but it would cost scarcely half a million to restore the old work completely. In the reign of Claudius also, that the soldiers might not be idle, they dug a canal 92 miles long between the Meuse and the Rhine.
5. Nero. Under this emperor the art of building was carried to a point hitherto unattained, yet posterity can show no traces of the works of this emperor. His first building was a wooden amphitheatre upon the Campus Martius, and in the year 62 a. d. the emperor erected the gymnasium called after him, and the adjacent baths, now more generally known as the Alexandrinian baths, as Alexander Severus restored them. Never, however, was the zeal for building so intense as with Nero, who, in order to obtain the space adequate to his house, and at the same time to rebuild the city more magnificently, caused it to be set on fire. Of the 14 districts of the city three were entirely destroyed, and seven were more or less injured. The fire raged nine days, and immense pecuniary loss as well as the destruction of treasures of art was the consequence. For the rebuilding the emperor removed the rubbish, and made ample indemnification, but introduced a very severe building law. The rubbish was devoted to filling up the swamps of Ostia; and Monte Testaccio, which yet remains, is a rubbish hill of this period. The ships in port were obliged to load with the rubbish as a return freight. To this period also belongs the beginning of the so-called golden house of Nero, of which Severus and Celer were the architect and builder. It is difficult to form a just idea of the magnificence of this house, which embraced corn fields, meadows, vineyards, forests, and fish ponds, and in which stood the colossal iron statue of Nero 120 feet high. The interior of the building glowed with gold and precious stones, and there were banqueting halls, with ivory tables wound with flowers, and with ceilings pierced like sieves, in order to shower odors upon the guests. When Nero dedicated the completed house he said, "That he had at length a home fit for a human being to live in." The statuary Zenodorus cast the colossus of Nero.
With Nero ended the Augustan family, and the emperors Galba, Otho, and Vitellius reigned too short a time to complete any important works. So much the more, however, was accomplished under the three next emperors of the family of Flavins.
6. Vespasian. The first great undertaking of this emperor in building was the often-projected re-construction of the temple of Jupiter Capitol in us, which was once more burned, and this time in the struggles of the followers of Vitellius with those of Flavins. Vespasian commenced the work with great zeal. He put his own hand to the work, in order to encourage the laborers, and the corner-stone was laid with great pomp. For the rest, according to the decrees of the augurs the new temple should in no manner differ from the old, except in the little greater height of the columns. But the building was not destined to remain a long time, for it was again burned under Titus, and, as we shall presently see, was rebuilt by Domitian. The golden house of Nero was for the greater part destroyed, and the remainder much changed. A second important building was the temple of Peace, whose form, however, differed materially from that formerly in use. According to the remains it was long in form, with a wide nave in the middle supported by eight Corinthian marble columns 5 feet, 8 inches, 3 lines in thickness, and about 57 feet, 11 inches high. At the sides were three deep spaces like chapels, and in the front-wall of the great aisle was the large niche for the temple statue. The temple, besides its chief entrance from the Coliseum, had also a side passage towards the modern street. We find more of the basilica form in this temple, and to such an extent, that these remains are sometimes called the Basilica of Constantine, which however they are not. A very beautiful architrave soffit of this temple is given in pl. 19, fig. 27. Bramante, in his first plan of St. Peter's, placed the Pantheon upon the Temple of Peace.
In the interior of this temple rare works of art, and valuable objects of all kinds, even the state treasury and the money of private individuals were kept, so that when it was burned in the time of Commodus the loss was incalculable. One of the colossal columns yet remains, and stands upon the place Santa Maria Maggiore. The height of the temple from the floor to the top of the arch was 112 feet, and this is probably the first instance of the great cross arch. This temple is also called the Temple of the Cæsars, from which we represent a capital (fig. 11).
In the year 72 a. d. Vespasian began the colossal amphitheatre of Flavian, known by the name of the Coliseum, of which we have given a general view and section in pl. 14, fig. 2, and in fig. 3, the half ground plan. The building was completed by Titus, and occupied only a few years. The ground shape of this theatre is elliptical. The longer diameter is more than 600 feet, the shorter more than 500. Eighty small arcades on the circumference led to two galleries on the ground floor, parallel with the outer circumference. The public passed by 24 passages which led to the first places, into two other concentric galleries, before which were the podia for the senators, vestals, ambassadors, &c. and behind which were the seats for the knights. These places occupied the first twelve rows of seats, and those of the knights the next 17. The populace ascended to the third story upon the numerous staircases of the various galleries, and in the fourth or highest story sat the freedmen, servants, and women of pleasure. They reached their places by a staircase over the arches of the gallery of the second story. There were broad entrances from the sides and ends of the area to the first places, and to the box of the emperor, which was distinguished by an elaborate projection. The arrangements for seats formed a ring of 60 feet in thickness, and provided accommodation for 87,000 people. The area left in the centre served for the combats of beasts and gladiators, &c. The exterior ornament consisted of three tiers of 80 arcades, the first Doric, the second Ionic, the third Corinthian. The upper story formed an attic with Corinthian pilasters and 40 windows. Between every two pilasters were three consoles, consequently 240 in all, each one of which bore a bronze support which passed through the cornice, and which altogether held the pulleys upon which the velarium was drawn. In the various arcades stood statues, chariots, &c. Plate 14 fig. 4, shows a section of the amphitheatre at Verona, and fig. 5 that of the amphitheatre of Nismes, from a comparison with which it will be seen how gigantic a building the Coliseum was. The amphitheatre of Nismes, which was oval, was somewhat over 400 feet in length, and over 300 feet in breadth.
Besides architectural works Vespasian did much for the highways, and the Flaminian way, which embraces an archway through the rock Petra pertusa (Pierre pertuis of modern times) 1000 feet long, was completed the year of his death.
7. Titus. During the reign of this emperor more was destroyed than was rebuilt. For, in the 79th year of our era, occurred the memorable eruption of Vesuvius, which laid waste the surrounding country, and shook the entire city, and shortly after a fire broke out in Rome that destroyed the finest and fairest part of the city, the buildings of Xero in the Campus Martins, the Temple of Isis, the Baths, &c., and also injured the Pantheon, and the Porch of Octavia. It was not until his successor that the loss was replaced.
As the destruction of the Campanian cities occurred in the reign of Titus, this seems the proper place to speak of the present condition of the excavated towns of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabise. Of the last very little has been hitherto discovered. In Herculaneum the excavation was undertaken with zeal and diligence, and the result was the discovery of a great mass of antiquities of all kinds. But as the city was buried under a great accumulation of lava and a new city was built over it, the work could only advance as in a mine, by shafts, and for this reason the work is nearly discontinued, because it required a disproportionate sum of money to forward it. The theatre has been entirely laid bare, and it is evident from that that Herculaneum was by no means a little provincial town. This theatre offers the best study of the theatre-building of the ancients.
The excavation of Pompeii was much easier and more convenient, for there was no overflow of lava here, and the town lies buried only under ashes and little stones, a few feet beneath a vineyard. Here buildings, streets, and places have been restored to the light, and therefore all available funds are devoted to the excavation, which constantly progresses with more or less diligence, so that a very tolerable conception of the structure and arrangement of an ancient city is now possible. The town, although not small, was only a provincial town of the third degree, but had all the buildings necessary to the business and amusement of a city, except that they are on a smaller scale than those of which we find traces in the large cities. The private houses also are lower and smaller than in a great town. They are of one story only, and evidently adapted to a single family. Only a very few of the recovered houses have two stories arranged with terraces.
A wanderer through the city discovers many buildings, chiefly public buildings, which at the time of the volcanic eruption were in process of building, and Tacitus relates that Pompeii was almost destroyed by an earthquake a little before its final catastrophe. According to Seneca, this event preceded the final one by sixteen years, and hence we find most of the private houses restored, but with only one story to provide against similar misfortunes. The rebuilding of the public edifices progressed more slowly, yet the amphitheatre was entirely completed, although the other theatres and the forum with its adjacent buildings were not so. Few of the streets are broad enough to allow the passage of a carriage, but they are well paved, and have elevated side walks. At the corners of the streets are fountains. Quite as carefully paved and provided with side walks are the streets outside the city, and upon these streets were the family sepulchral monuments. We have treated of the city walls of Pompeii, illustrating them in detail under the head of Military Sciences (Fortification); see Plates, Division V., pl. 43, figs. 10–15. The sole remaining gate has three entrances; the middle one for carriages, and one on each side for foot passengers.
The dwelling houses are built together, but without communication with each other, and the main walls in common. Upon entering you pass into a court, small or large, generally surrounded by a colonnade, and with the sleeping rooms, sitting rooms, and kitchen opening upon it. It is all small but tasteful, with pavements of marble and mosaic. The walls and columns are covered with a coating of chalk and marble dust, smooth as glass, with a surface colored in fresco, upon which are laid the water colors. When treating of the Fine Arts we shall return to these wall paintings. In two bakeries the ovens are yet standing; they were heated from below.
Of the public buildings the amphitheatre is the most striking. If could easily accommodate 12,000 men, and the rows of seats are made of volcanic tufa. Of the two theatres that lay near each other, one was covered and served as an odeon; the large one was in process of building. The steps of white marble were not all placed, and the wall work of the stage was not yet plastered. The forum was in the same incomplete state, and was to have had two colonnades one above the other. The pedestals of the statues, the equestrian also, were ready, but there were no statues. On the long side of the forum were three small buildings almost like basilicas, destined for the sessions of the municipality. On the opposite side was the curia with the archives, and a kind of pulpit standing in the open air. Here also was the comitium, where the magisterial electoral assemblies were held.
The administration of public affairs must not go on without the close superintendence of the gods, and hence there was no want of temples in the vicinity of the forum. In the neighborhood, and only separated by the street from the comitium, lay a long court surrounded with walls, on the side of which ran a colonnade. In the midst of the court upon a lofty Sight of steps a small temple, whose ground plan, pl. 16, fig. 37, shows that it was a prostylos hypæthros. This temple was dedicated to Jupiter, as the fragment of a very beautiful statue of Jupiter found in the vicinity leads us to suspect. Before the temple stands a large sacrificial altar. This temple was not fully restored, yet there were beautiful paintings on the wall. Upon the opposite side of the forum were two small temples, one dedicated to Venus, the other to Fortuna. Both were of the Corinthian order, and we give the ground plan of the temple of Fortuna, pl. 16, fig. 28. Near the forum was the hospital of Augustus, in the court of which was a round or rather polygonal monopteros dedicated to Augustus. Pl. 13, fig. 10, shows the ground plan of this little temple. We must finally mention three temples, or rather chapels, which stood tolerably near one of the long sides of the forum. The most important is the temple of Æsculapius (pl. 16, fig. 31, shows the ground plan), which is hemmed in by other buildings, but has a porch with two columns towards the street. The temple itself is a Doric prostylos with four columns in front, and a fine sacrificial altar stands before it. The chapel of Isis (fig. 30) stands with the long side towards the street, from which it is separated by the walls of the porch. A colonnade of the Doric order surrounds the porch, in the corner of which stands a little building destined for the use of those who had charge of the temple, and who took care that no improper person penetrated to the mysteries of the goddess. Others suppose this small building to have been designed for beasts, as was the custom in all Egyptian temples. Here the Ibis might have been kept, a bird sacred to Isis. This bird is an important figure in two paintings representing the religious habits of the Egyptians, which were taken from the walls of this temple of Isis. The sacrificial offerings might have been kept there, which were brought and consumed upon the platform by the ibis, and with which a kind of augury was connected. In the court itself there were several altars, and the temple is a prostylos of four columns, and the middle space between the columns is the largest, as thence the staircase led to the upper part of the building. The temple has an opisthodomos in the interior, and two wings with paintings.
The chapel of Mercury (fig. 29) forms no rectangle, as the street runs slantingly against the long side, and the short sides are parallel with the street. The temple itself has a fore-court inclosed by walls adorned with pilasters and a colonnade in front, and is a Corinthian prostylos with four columns, standing upon a high substructure accessible from the rear. In the court stands a large sacrificial altar. The columns of all the temples hitherto mentioned are fluted and very tastefully adorned.
To this brief survey of the ancient buildings in Pompeii, we add some general remarks upon the style there prevalent. In technical architecture there is little worthy of note. The walls, even of the largest buildings, are mostly of quarry stone, seldom of brick, and scarcely at all of freestone. Often the columns are of mason work, sometimes of great blocks of limestone, which is quarried in the neighborhood, and sometimes of marble, which is, however, oftener used for doorframes, thresholds, facing of the walls and floors. The rough cast is very carefully made and smoothed. The walls are mostly painted. The roofs are generally beam: arches rarely occur. There are not many specimens of the more elaborate style of architecture; the buildings are generally simple. Excepting the temples the columns are almost all Doric or Tuscan. The only ornaments that occur are parts of the marble pilasters carved with winding plants and insects of remarkable execution.
We return to Rome and to the works of the successor of Titus.
8. Domitian. This unworthy brother of Titus busied himself a great deal with building, and restored almost all the buildings that had suffered by the fire under Titus. Among these was the temple of the Capitoline gods. This temple, which Domitian erected with great magnificence, was based upon a quadrangular substructure of freestone, with truncated corners, upon the Capitoline hill, and this octagonal platform (pl. 15, fig. 7) is surrounded by a high wall, on the inside of which statues and columns were erected. Towards the south was a Corinthian portico of eight columns in two rows, closed behind by four great pillars, forming three passages, and to which was joined in the interior of the vestibule a back portico of four smooth Corinthian columns. Near the steps of the platform were two smaller temples, the object of which is unknown. Upon the platform itself, arose, upon an elevation of three steps, the temple of the Capitoline divinities, of a peculiar arrangement. It was properly an immense hall of columns with a back wall, and under the roof of this hall lay, towards the rear, the temples of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, which had walls in common, and of which the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus was the middle one (fig. 6). The hall had six Corinthian columns of Pentelican marble, which were brought, already sculptured, from Athens. They were very beautifully proportioned, but it had been forgotten that, owing to the unusual columnar distances of the Capitoline (3\(\frac{1}{2}\), 5, and 7 diameters) the columns should have been larger, 60 that when they were erected they seemed scant. The hall had in front three rows of columns, one behind the other, which corresponded in columnar distances with the temples lyng behind. Then came a fourth row in the line of the antæ of Jupiter's temple, a fifth in that of the antæ of the temples of Juno and Minerva, and on each side another column, and finally the corner pillars of the rear wall.
The temple of Jupiter had, inside, double tiers of columns, twelve below and six above, or a hypæthral order. Along the side walls were, on the outside, auxiliary altars; and upon the platform, on the outside of the hall, several pedestals with groups of sculptures and two little temples or chapels, the one four-sided, the other round. How great the splendor of this structure must have been may be surmised from the fact that the gilding alone cost more than 12,000 Attic talents (about twenty millions of dollars), as Plutarch, Suetonius, and Martial assure us.
Besides this, Domitian built a Stadium, an Odeon, and a Naumachia, for which a lake was formed from the Tiber and circularly walled. We have treated this building among the Naval Sciences, and have given a representation of it in Plates, Division VI. pl. 2, fig. 12. Domitian also enlarged the temple of Jupiter, built by Livia, the wife of Augustus, in Forli, or the old Forum Livii on the Æmilian way, of which we have given the ground plan in pl. 15, fig. 15, and which forms a Corinthian amphiprostylos peripteros, with six columns in front and 11 at the sides, entirely in the old Greek style.
To the great works of Domitian belongs the plan of a great Forum with the temple of Minerva and a little temple of Janus. This forum was finished, however, by his successor, Nerva, and is thence called from him. It is known also, however, as the Forum of Domitian; or, from the temple of Minerva, Forum Palladium; or, because it was a thoroughfare, Forum Transitorium or Pervium. Pl. 13, fig. 17, gives the ground plan, and fig. 16 the lateral section with a view of the temple of Minerva. The Forum was protected upon both sides with a wall crowned with an attic and adorned with Corinthian columns. The front side forms a fivefold passage which, on the inside, has a portico with four columns.
The rear side includes the temple of Minerva, and there were arched gateways upon both sides. There are still remains of the walls and columns, and also of the reliefs of the attic, in which Minerva was represented instructing virgins in female tasks. The temple of Minerva was a beautiful Corinthian prostylos with six white marble columns in front; the cella, behind, was semicircularly closed, and on the long side-walls there were columns with a richly ornamented frieze. The little temple of Janus was a singular building, of which the form may yet be seen in the middle of the Forum. It was completely quadrate, and had on each side four high Corinthian columns whose middle distances were, however, much wider than those on the sides. These twelve columns supported a rich entablature, with an attic which formed a platform upon which stood a bust of Janus with four heads. This entire structure, however, was only a canopy over the temple proper, which was inclosed in walls only half as high as the eight columns between which they stood. These walls supported a cornice and attic, which again formed a platform under the before-mentioned canopy. On each side between the middle columns was a door opening into a portico of two little Corinthian columns with a gable over them, whose roof rested against the attic.
The triumphal arches and arches of honor were among the architectural works that rose to prominence under the government of Domitian. He erected many of them in all parts of the city, and adorned them very richly. To this time, also, belongs a triumphal arch decreed by the senate and Roman people to Titus on occasion of his taking Jerusalem. The greater part of this work yet remains, and pl. 18, fig. 17, gives a view of it; fig. 18, its ground plan. That this arch was erected after the death of Titus appears from the inscription which calls the emperor "the deified;" and the middle of the spring of the arch is sculptured in half raised work with his apotheosis, where he sits upon an eagle. This bas-relief, and above all the sculptures of this arch, indicate an exquisite style; but the architecture is less praiseworthy, overloaded as it is with ornament. This arch is the most ancient monument in the composite style, on which over the usual Corinthian capital the Ionic volutes appear. Of this time also is the no less simple than beautiful triumphal arch upon the bridge of Santonum, the modern Xaintes on the Charente in France, where there are many other Roman remains: pl. 17, fig. 16, a and b, give the general view and ground plan of this arch. Whether also the arch of Gabius in Verona, near Castello Vecchio, which we have represented in elevation and ground plan, pl. 17, fig. 17 a and b, belongs to this or a later period, perhaps that of the emperor Gallienus, which its mediocre architecture induces us to suspect, must remain uncertain, as neither the family of Gabius nor the name of the architect L. Vitruvius Cerdo is mentioned elsewhere. We must also mention here a very richly adorned triumphal arch which was erected in honor of Marius in Arausio, the modern Orange in the department of Vaucluse in France, of which pl. 18, fig. 15, gives the general view, and fig. 16, the ground plan. The arrangement of the gables upon the sides, and of the sculptured panels between the four gables, is peculiar. The sculptures are neatly done and in a good style. Arausio is distinguished for its antiquities, particularly for its amphitheatre, the only entire one remaining in Europe. There was formerly a little hamlet in the interior of this building, which the Department of Vaucluse purchased and removed, and left the theatre unincumbered. The arch of Augustus at Pola (fig. 20, general view, fig. 21, ground plan) is remarkable for a simply beautiful form, and was built either under Domitian or his predecessor.
But Domitian did not lavish the wealth of his kingdom only upon public buildings. He did much for his private edifices, and especially for the Capitoline house and the villa in Albano. The Basilica was adorned with great splendor. The rarest stones were used; the richest ornaments were everywhere lavished so that even the smallest architrave soffits were garnished with costly fillings (pl. 19, fig. 28). The hall was arched with unusual loftiness and represented the starry heavens. Domitian expended no less upon his estate in Albano, where he gave great plays, and even invited the whole senate thither. The ruins of this villa are yet visible between castle Gondolfo and the lake of Albano, and there are yet very beautiful remains of the various orders, among others the fine Doric order of which fig. 4 shows the capital, and which, to all appearance, served Vignola afterwards as the type of his Roman Doric style. We shall return to this order.
9. Nerva. After the long peaceful reign of Augustus which was so fostering to the development of art, the palmiest art-days of the Roman empire were those which fell in the reigns of Nerva to Commodus, the unworthy son of Marcus Aurelius, that is from the year 96 to 180 of the Christian era; and art took in this time its highest sweep, to fall so much the more quickly. Nerva was too old when he ascended the throne, and reigned too short a time to complete any important edifices, and we have already spoken of the completion and dedication of the Forum begun by Domitian.
10. Trajan. Although no buildings illustrated the first years of Trajan's reign, yet they increased afterwards so rapidly that Constantine the Great was accustomed to call Trajan the wall plant (Herba parietaria), because his name was so universally engraved upon the buildings he had erected. Trajan's first great work was the enlargement of the Circus Maximus, which then held 260,000 spectators, but afterwards, according to Publius Victor, could contain 385,000 people. Trajan wished that the Roman people should have place in the circus, and he extended the circus, which was then 4\(\frac{1}{2}\) stadia (2300 paces) long, that he might increase the number of seats. Other important buildings were the Baths and the Odeon, of which Apollodorus was the architect. New temples and halls were not built in his reign, and his works of this kind were limited to restorations.
Trajan's greatest work in the city was the forum, named from him, a work which has always excited universal wonder. The great triumphal column erected to the emperor by the senate and the people, yet remains, and recently the ground around it has been excavated, and a great number of granite pillars as well as fragments of statuary and architectural details have been brought to light, and again erected upon their old sites. But in this excavation the whole extent of the old forum has not been revealed, and remains still undetermined. In order to obtain the requisite space, Trajan had a part of the Quirinal hill removed and the space levelled as deep as the height of the column in the middle of the forum. The buildings which adorned this forum, were the column in its midst, the Basilica Ulpia, the Libraries, the Triumphal Arches, the Temple of Trajan, and the Colonnades leading directly across the place.
VII. Plate 18: Roman Memorial and Ceremonial Architecture
Like all the Roman forums, it was a long quadrangle. The column is a magnificent relic of Roman greatness. Pl. 18, figs. 24 to 30, are devoted to its representation; fig. 24 gives the general view, fig. 28 is the bronze statue of the emperor, which stood upon the summit, where now that of the Apostle Peter stands (23 feet in height) fig. 25, is the section of the column with the staircase; fig. 26, is a horizontal section through the foundation; fig. 27, the same through the shaft; fig. 29, is a Roman coin, upon which the column is represented; fig. 30, a perspective view with Trajan's Temple to the right. Including base and capital the column is 92 feet high, the substructure on which it rests is 17 feet high, and the round support for the statue is 13 feet high, so that the height of the whole monument with the statue is 145 feet. In the interior there are 185 steps; the staircase is illuminated by holes cut in the circumference, expanding inwards.
The lower diameter of the column is a little over 11, and the upper 10 feet. It is constructed of huge blocks of white marble, which were originally united by brass clamps. Every block fills out the full circle of the column, and the steps are wrought into them, which form the winding staircase. The square foundation is composed of similar masses, with the door on the south side, from which the steps conveniently wind. Upon the flat surface of the capital is a spacious walk around the base that supports the statue.
The sides of the foundation are garnished with a beautiful top cornice and base moulding raised flat, adorned with weapons of war; the torus or bolster of the Doric base forms a laurel wreath. Around the shaft of the column the sculptures ascend to the summit and present the wars of Trajan with the Dacians. In proportion to the height and its distance from the spectator, the upper figures are increased in size according to optical laws. Notwithstanding this, from the good arrangement of its reduction, the effect of the shaft is very pleasing. The unpleasing part is the consideration of details. The execution, although skilful, is studied only with great trouble because the eye is wearied by the increasing distance, and the examiner, in contemplating the column, must constantly move round and round it. The wonder is, that the work is so well preserved, as in the Middle Ages the bronze clamps were torn from it.
Of the other works of this emperor, we must mention the bridge he built over the Danube. It consisted of 20 piles of freestone, each one of which, without the foundation, was 150 feet high and 60 feet broad. The spaces between the piles, or the spring of the bridge arches, was about 170 feet. By the so-called iron gate between Servia and Wallachia, remains of a stone bridge have been discovered, supposed to be this bridge of Trajan, but erroneously, for they do not correspond with the description by Dio Cassius. They probably belonged to the bridge built afterwards by Constantine.
Trajan built also the road through the Pontine marshes, and the fine road from Beneventum to Brundusium. A Triumphal Arch erected to the emperor in Beneventum in the 114:th year of our era is yet standing. Pl. 18, fig. 11, gives a view of this ruin; fig. 12, and pl. 17, fig. 19b, the ground plan; fig. 19a, gives the elevation of this arch, which is commonly called the Golden Gate. It is of Parian marble, and is completely preserved. Its height is something over 80 feet, its breadth half as much, and its depth 19 feet. The opening of the arch is about 17 feet, and on each side there are two columns of the Composite order directly against the wall. The columns are something over 19 feet high, and rest upon a stylobate running under all of them. Architrave, frieze, and cornice are in the best harmony, and the Attic bases of the columns are remarkably well profiled. The reliefs between the columns represent events from the emperor's life. In the archivolts are Victories with crowns and banners. The frieze is adorned with a triumphal procession in half raised work; and the attic shows on both sides of the inscription remarkably fine bas-reliefs.
Trajan did much also for hydraulic architecture, by enriching the already noble system of aqueducts. He built two harbors upon the Italian shore; the one was at Ancona, upon the Adriatic sea, where the marble arch upon the harbor dam still exists. Fig. 18a, is the general view of it; fig. 18b, the ground plan.
This arch, whether viewed as a whole or in detail, is very beautiful, although the shoulder-pieces of the cornice and of the attic are not in the best style. The two keystones of the arch joined by a female head, are very fine.
11. Hadrian. The activity in art of Trajan's successor, Hadrian, surpassed all previous efforts. Building in the provinces was prosecuted with no less zeal than in the capital. Hadrian was not only a friend of art, but he pursued its practice with almost more passion than became a prince. He drew, like King Louis I. of Bavaria, the plans of buildings, which he had executed, and was much displeased if the architects found fault with them. This was the case with the double temple of Venus at Rome, and which the emperor had sketched and laid the drawing before Apollodorus. When this artist saw that the sitting figures were so large in proportion to the little temple that they could not stand up, and ventured to say so, Hadrian caused him to be executed, as Dio Cassius relates. This double temple of Venus and Rome was one of the most important, not only of those which Hadrian undertook, but of all which adorned the city. Pl. 16, fig. 1, gives the section through the colonnade with the view of the temple; fig. 2, the longitudinal section; fig. 3, the ground plan of the whole; fig. 4, shows a fragment from the left corner of the gable of the portico; and figs. 5 and 6 are views of the temple upon Roman coins.
The most recent excavations, under the auspices of the papal government, show that the two temples were surrounded by columns, which were to the number of twenty on the long side, of a fine Corinthian style, and on the short side ten, from which the temple would appear to have been a pseudodipteros decastylos. The temple itself was also surrounded by a court, inclosed with colonnades, and the whole rested upon massive substructures, higher towards the amphitheatre than towards the forum where the ground lay higher. The columns around the temple were of white marble, and the brickwork of the walls was faced with the same. The colonnade of the peribolus was of grey granite, with ceilings of gilded brass, which Pope Honorius I. removed to roof St. Peter's. The arrangement of the double cella of this temple appears so clearly from the ground plan and sections that we shall not here further enlarge upon it.
Hadrian, by the architect Decrianus, removed the Neronian sun-colossus to another spot, and effected it by twenty-four elephants drawing it in an upright posture. The emperor also built an athenaeum in which orators and poets might exercise themselves in Latin and Greek, and speak in public.
One of Hadrian's great buildings was his Mausoleum on the right bank of the Tiber, now called the castle of St. Angelo. Pl. 18, fig. 1, is the general view of this building as it originally appeared, although all its ornaments and even the marble slabs that faced the foundation have disappeared, since the building was made a fortress. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section above the foundation; fig. 3, a similar one through the lower part of the circular superstructure; fig. 4 through the first columnar superstructure, and fig. 5 through the second; figs. 6 and 7, are vertical sections of the building itself, which is connected with the bridge of St. Angelo.
The lower part of this Mausoleum formed a square of which the sides were 250 feet long and 57\(\frac{2}{3}\) feet high. Upon this stands a round structure whose diameter is 201\(\frac{2}{3}\) feet. The columns were 32 feet, 5 inches high, the entablature 8\(\frac{2}{3}\) feet, and upon this second part stood a third circular building of less diameter. Under the covered colonnade, in the intercolumniations, bronze and marble statues were placed. History relates that Belisarius, besieged in this place by the Gauls (and it is still the citadel of Rome), threw many of these statues down upon the enemy. A flower crowned the apex of the monument. Others assert that the statue of Hadrian in a chariot with four horses abreast stood there. The flower, or rather the cone of fir, is eleven feet high, and still exists, standing in a niche of the Vatican fronting the garden. Twenty-four fluted Corinthian columns, which belonged to the first perizonium, were, in Constantine's time, when the building began to decay, taken away and built into the church of San Paolo fuori le mure. The places for the sarcophagus and the funeral urns of the deceased of the imperial family, were partly in the vault of the square substructure, partly in the great hall that occupies the middle part of the building. A staircase in the wall of the tower led to the upper platform of the monument, upon which the roof was stretched in the form of a tent. Other authorities remove the roof and set upon the platform a little round temple of Hadrian, and say that the 24 columns in the Church of St. Paul formed the peripteros of the temple. There is one passage in Herodian which favors this idea, speaking of the urn of Septimius Severus which was placed in a temple upon the mausoleum of Hadrian, where reposed the remains of Marcus and other friends of Hadrian.
Hadrian's Villa Tiburtina (Tivoli) was thirty miles in circumference, and contained buildings for which the imperial recollections of travel supplied names, as the Lyceum, the Academy, the Prytaneum, the Poekile, the Canopus, &c. There was also a vale of Tempe, and a Hades. The ruins are constantly explored, and new antiquities brought to light. In the middle ages two huge limekilns stood here, that did nothing but convert the marble remains into lime. The walls, robbed of their facing, revealed the network (reticulatum) and brick-work very neatly executed, and many cast vaults made of little stones and lime.
Hadrian's architectural achievements in the provinces, and especially in Athens, were very great. The arch of honor yet standing shows their character. This had on one side the inscription, "This is Athens, the old city of Theseus," and on the other, "This is the city of Hadrian, and not of Theseus." On this side of the arch lay that part of the city which Hadrian had adorned and almost rebuilt. We have already mentioned how entirely the emperor achieved his purpose, in our reference to the restoration of the temples of the Olympian Jupiter by Cossutius, of that of Jupiter Panhellenius, and of Juno. Hadrian built also a great deal in Egypt, where he founded the town of Antinoe.
12. Antoninus Pius. The peaceful aspect of affairs which distinguished the government of Hadrian continued through that of Antoninus, which was among the happiest reigns of the Roman empire. The culminating period of art had been passed, but still it was a favorable season, and already when consul the emperor had erected several important buildings. One of his first undertakings after becoming emperor was honoring his predecessor by the erection of a temple against the will of the senate, in the villa of Cicero at Puteoli, where Hadrian died. Then he restored the Grecostasis, where the foreign embassies were received, and the amphitheatre, and completed the building of the mausoleum of Hadrian, and the restoration of the Pantheon, which had suffered by fire. The emperor had a special regard for Æsculapius, whose shrine of pilgrimage at Epidaurus he especially favored, and erected there baths, and a common sanctuary for Hygeia, Æsculapius, and the Egyptian Apollo, and a hospital and lying-in retreat for the inhabitants. He also restored the temple of Æsculapius upon the island of the Tiber (see page 61), and gave to the island itself that ship-form which it still retains in the circumference of its stone walls.
There yet remains in Home a monument, which according to the inscription was dedicated to the deified Antoninus and his spouse Faustina, but which, we believe, was erected while he yet lived. Faustina died in the third year of her husband's reign, and the senate built a temple to her, an honor which they accorded also to Antoninus upon his death. They erected, however, no separate temple, but they removed the ornaments from the frieze of the temple of Faustina, which bore upon the architrave the name of the empress, and replaced them with the name of Antoninus. Plate 11, fig. 9, gives the general view of this temple; fig. 10 is the ground plan, and pl. 11, figs. 11 and 12, are two Roman coins, upon which occur representations of the temple. The columns of the portico of this temple, which yet remain, are not fluted, and are built of green and mottled marble. The profiles upon this monument are beautiful, the execution careful, and the reduction of the columns is in a straight line. There were six columns in front and three on the sides. The foundation is 15 feet high, and has 21 steps; the columns are 4 feet, 6 inches in diameter, and 43 feet, 8\(\frac{1}{4}\) inches high. The monument itself is now mostly built into the church of San Lorenzo in Miranda, and was in the 7th century a Christian basilica. The walls were built of tufa, and were formerly faced with marble.
13. Marcus Aurelius, L. Verus, Commodus. The prolonged reign of Marcus Aurelius, a man remarkable in every respect, who took L. Verus as his colleague, offers little for remark in the history of architecture; either because his government was disturbed by many misfortunes, or because the Stoic philosophy to which the emperor attached himself engrossed his attention to the detriment of art. He was not deficient in knowledge of the subject, for he was himself a painter. Aurelius and Verus dedicated to their father Antoninus a memorial column of one huge granite block upon a pedestal of white marble. The bronze statue of the deified emperor stood upon the summit. During the middle ages the column which stood upon the Campus Martins fell, and remained buried in rubbish until it was discovered by chance. The attempt was made to erect it again, but by an unhappy chance the cables took fire, the column again fell, and was broken into many pieces. The pedestal is now in the Museum Pio Clementino. Lucius Verus built himself a magnificent villa not far from Rome on the Via Claudia, where many marble remains have been excavated. To this time also belong many fine structures which a private citizen, Herodes Atticus, the teacher of Verus, erected, and which we have already partly enumerated during our glance at Athens (page 41).
But if Marcus Aurelius in his own person achieved little in architecture, there were a multitude of monuments erected in his honor. In the 17th century there yet stood in Rome a triumphal arch of this emperor, which was destroyed because it narrowed the Corso. The sculptures taken from it, representing the victory of Marcus Aurelius over the Marcomanni, are now in the capitol. The second monument is the great triumphal column whereupon, as on the column of Trajan, the campaigns of the emperor against the Marcomanni and Quadi are represented. Upon the summit stood the statue of the emperor, which has been since replaced by that of the apostle Paul. Pl. 18, fig. 31, gives the general view of this column; fig. 32, its section; fig. 34, the statue which formerly stood upon it; fig. 33, the horizontal section through the column; fig. 35 a and b are coins upon which the column occurs; and fig. 36, is the perspective view of the place upon which it stands, with the adjacent temple of Marcus Aurelius, which had 8 Corinthian columns in front and 11 on the sides, and of which 11 columns and a part of the cella remain. The frieze is smooth and convex, and the whole indicates an already declining art. So also the column which is 15 feet thick below, and with the statue is 176 feet high, although of great importance to history, is yet not to be compared with its type, the column of Trajan; for it is not nearly so well cut, and its sculptures are of a much inferior style.
The last mentioned monuments belong to the reign of Commodus, the unworthy son of Marcus Aurelius, and are almost the only ones of that time. Even these were not wholly finished during his reign.
Let us revert now, upon the threshold of declining art, to the architectural achievements from Augustus to Antoninus. They are certainly greater than those of any other age, nor could any other government than imperial Rome have performed them. The colossal was the order of the day. The most costly material was collected from every quarter, and no limits were prescribed to the architect, except such as his own genius and will imposed. Temples of great size and magnificence, and of new forms, were erected; and the fora were adorned with basilicas, temples, memorial columns, and libraries. To the Julian period the Augustan soon associated itself, then that of Domitian, and at last the splendid era of Trajan. Rome had its coliseum, and the ruins of similar buildings meet the eye frequently in other regions, as in Capua, Pozzuoli, Pola, Verona, Nismes. The baths were a species of building not seen before. Marcus Agrippa gave the example; then followed the splendid works of Nero, Titus, the Suranian of Trajan, and the Cleandrian under Commodus. Nome had public colonnades earlier, but they did not approach in beauty to those of Agrippa, Augustus, or Nero. In respect of palaces we can hardly mention the Palatine of Domitian with the golden house of Nero; and the villas of Tiberius at Capri, Domitian's Albanum, Trajan's villa, the Lorium of Antonine, appear insignificant in comparison with Hadrian's sumptuous villa at Tivoli.
We must add to these, the sepulchral monuments and memorial arches. Triumphal and memorial arches, even temples, are now more common in Rome and in the provinces, and are adorned upon all sides with the most costly bas-reliefs. Memorial columns rise on every hand, and surpass even the obelisks in height. Augustus and Caligula imported the last from Egypt, and even Constantine had one brought to Rome. Yet, near the columns of Trajan and of Marcus Aurelius, they lose all importance. If we now include the roads and bridges in and about Rome and the provinces, we shall have an idea of the grandeur of art during this period.
There was abundance of the best material, and a great number of buildings, the style in most of which was masterly, yet less in the Doric and Ionic than in the splendid Corinthian capitals. There was, however, no lack of empirics who obtruded everywhere, and treated art arbitrarily. The rage for novelty was also dangerous to architecture, and names like Severus, Celer, and Apollodorus are of rare occurrence at any period. Among the emperors who fostered art, Hadrian deserves the first place; and his reign, in the history of art, marks the era of the last efforts towards the sublime.
14. Septimius Severus. The disturbances consequent upon the assassination of Commodus interrupted every architectural enterprise. Pertinax and his three successors were only apparitions upon the theatre of universal empire, until Septimius Severus at length assumed the government, and as a warrior and educated man, undertook many works of importance for the improvement of the city. He was also engaged in restorations. To his larger works belongs a very large temple of Bacchus and Hercules, of whose site, however, no trace remains. But there are two monuments in honor of this emperor and of his fortunate Oriental campaigns. The largest is a triumphal arch which the people and the senate dedicated to the emperor and to his sons, 203 a. d. Pl. 17, fig. 20, shows the section of this work. It lies opposite the Capitoline hill, and was built of blocks of Pentelican marble without cement. It is entirely preserved, although it has often suffered from fire. The whole height is about 56 feet, the breadth 72 feet, and the depth about 22 feet. It has three openings, of which the middle is the largest, and on each side stand four fluted columns of the Composite order, disengaged, and with pilasters behind them. These columns are 2 feet, 10 inches in diameter, and rest upon pedestala which on three sides have bas-reliefs representing captive enemies. The entablature, which is supported by the columns, formerly bore statues in the same manner as the arch of Constantine (pl. 17, fig. 21). The archivolts are in a pure and handsome style. The middle arch is 38 feet high by 22 feet span. The little arches are 23 feet high and about 10\(\frac{1}{2}\) wide. The arches have beautiful deep panels with rosettes. The three arches communicate with each other through little doors which are also arched. The keystones of the great arch are adorned with armed warriors, and the archivolts with Genii of Glory with trophies; those of the smaller ones with Victories with palm branches. Over the little arches there is between the columns, first a frieze with a triumphal procession, and over that bas-reliefs with many figures representing battle scenes, indifferently executed. Here the decline of art that distinguished this period is very evident. There are no bas-reliefs upon the great frieze or the attic. In the interior of the arch is a staircase leading to a platform, upon which, formerly, was a triumphal chariot with six horses abreast, upon which stood statues of Septimius Severus, Caracalla, and Geta. The money changers and traders erected a little triumphal arch in honor of the emperor serving as an entrance to the Forum Boarium. Here Severus was represented with his wife Julia, and his sons Caracalla and Geta sacrificing. But later, after Caracalla had murdered his brother Geta, he carried his hatred to the degree of removing his figure from this bas-relief.
An important building of the emperor Septimius Severus was the Septizonium, of which pl. 18, fig. 10, gives the general view. The emperor erected it as a family sepulchre on the Appian Way. His funeral urn was not, however, placed here, but in the tomb of the Antonines, i. e. of Hadrian, but the body of Geta was buried here. Nothing remains of this building, but Martianus has left a description of it, from the extensive ruins existing in his time. There were seven tiers of columns one over the other, but according to others there were only three stories with seven rows of columns.
Sixtus V. took a great many yellow marble columns from this monument for St. Peter's. It seems as if the vision of the Tower of Baal at Babylon had floated before the minds of the builders of this monument, and of Hadrian's mausoleum.
Septimius Severus built also a great number of splendid dwelling-houses, which he presented to his friends. One of these houses was called the Palace of the Parthians, and another the Lateran. The Pantheon, the Porch of Octavia, and the temple of Jupiter Tonans, were repaired by him.
15. Caracalla. Upon the buildings which bear the name of Septimius Severus appears also that of his son Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Pius, for he received the name Caracalla from the tabard which he wore, and which he enjoined his soldiers to wear. To the buildings which he independently erected belong preeminently the baths, whose walls yet remain, and which bear witness to the extent of the undertaking, which seems to have surpassed all similar ones. The masonry is of brick, and looks as in its best days. The vaults are all cast work, made, however, not of tufa but of pumice; and are firm and light, for which reason they do not weigh heavily upon their supports. Some of them were so flat that it was supposed they had a metal support within. They now lie in rubbish, and it is evident that there was no metal, but that they held by their own lightness. The excavated remains indicate the magnificence of these baths. Eight huge granite columns have been discovered, which supported the great hall, and of which one now stands in Florence, upon the Piazza Trinita. Here also were found the two marble reservoirs that now adorn the fountains upon the Piazza Farnese in Rome. From here too came the Farnese Hercules, the Flora, and the well known group of the Farnese Bull.
Caracalla was much devoted to the Egyptian worship, for which reason Isis and Serapis, which had formerly only a shrine, were now elevated to the dignity of several temples; and to this time also belongs the restoration of the temple of Serapis in Pozzuoli, of which we have already spoken (page 74), and of which pl. 13, fig. 9, gives the ground plan.
16. Heliogabalus. We should no more have mentioned this emperor than we did Macrinus and his son, if he had not committed the folly of making the Syrian god Helagabal the Roman national god, and of erecting to him a temple and a chapel, and if he had not built a hall of council for women, in which they were to deliberate on matters of female dress and other frivolities. The hall was situated upon the Quirinal, and the remains of the walls are yet visible in the garden of the Palace Colonna. The emperor also restored the amphitheatre that had suffered from fire.
17. Alexander Severus. This emperor loved the arts and sciences, and was himself versed in mathematics and painting. He erected rooms for scientific lectures, and paid teachers especially for them. The forum of Nerva (pl. 13, figs. 16 and 17) he adorned with the statue of the deified emperor, and in his private chapel (Lararium) he had a separate room for the portraits of such men as were famous for their writings or life. Here were Virgil, Cicero, Apollonius of Tyana, Abraham, and Christ. The latter he reckoned among the gods, and intended to build him a temple. He restored the theatre of Marcellus, the great circus, and the amphitheatre; and he completed the stoa in the baths of Caracalla. An important building of this emperor was the Basilica Alexandrina, in the neighborhood of the Campus Martins. It was 100 feet broad and 1000 feet long, and rested entirely upon columns, and seems, therefore, to have been a stoa. This emperor erected at Ostia a round temple (pl. 12, fig. 15, general view, fig. 16, section) to Portumnus, the tutelar god of harbors. This temple was a beautiful peripteros, surrounded by 24 Corinthian columns, and is the first in which the architrave and entablature are superseded by arches, and vaults and where, consequently, the colonnade has no straight ceiling. The masonry is brick, and has been faced with marble; the dome finely vaulted and garnished with very beautiful ornaments, but not cassetted.
18. The Emperors from Maximus to Gallienus. The emperors that follow had, by the general short duration of their reigns, little inclination to busy themselves with the arts, which consequently fell more and more into decay. For this reason we shall include in one period the interval between the years 235 and 261 of our era, as the buildings then erected are neither important nor of great architectural value. Properly, Gordianus was the only one who built at all. He erected his family palace and then his villa on the Prænestine Way, in which was a colonnade which had 200 columns, of which 50 were of Carlan, 50 of Claudian, 50 of Synnadian, and 50 of Numidian marble, and every one of these consisted of a single block. Also three basilicas, each with 100 columns, were in this villa, and the baths yielded in magnificence only to those of Home.
19. Gallienus. Under the feeble Gallienus full confusion broke over the Roman empire. The border inhabitants rose, whilst in the interior strife of long duration commenced between the commanders of the legions. At this time also the temple of Diana at Ephesus fell into decay, which, since its restoration in the time of Alexander the Great, had for 600 years excited the wonder of the world. It was plundered and burned by the Goths. In Rome there were very few and unimportant buildings completed under this emperor, whose chief ambition was to be a great poet. In Verona, however, there are some monuments which we must refer to this time. The first is a city gate, with two arches surmounted by two stories, each consisting of six arched windows. The second story is adorned with columns which are fluted in a spiral form, of which style this is the first example. The third story has pilasters which stand upon projecting consoles, also a new style. According to the inscription upon the gate, it was erected at the same time with the city walls, 265 a. d., of which, however, there are few remains (pl. 18, figs. [19a], elevation; fig. 19b, plan.) The other monuments are also gates, somewhat similar to that described, but adorned with columns, and in an inferior style. To this time also belongs the arch of Gabius in Verona, of which we have already spoken (page 81), and of which (pl. 17, fig. 17a, and b, give the elevation and ground plan.
20. Claudius Gothicus. This emperor reigned too short a time to build anything, but he reigned so well that almost all the cities aimed at perpetuating his memory by gates of honor. The senate of Rome placed his golden statue, ten feet high, before the temple of the Capitoline divinities, and a silver statue of the emperor weighing 1500 pounds upon the tribune of the Forum.
21. Aurelian. This emperor acted energetically and reduced the border population to tranquillity; yet the feeling of the weakness of the metropolis was so great that it was the first care of the emperor to surround it with strong walls. We have treated of these walls among Military Sciences (Vol. II. p. 618). See Plates Division V., pl. 43, figs. 6–9, and pl. 42, figs. 19, 20.
The chief building which this emperor erected in Rome was the temple of the deity of the Sun, whose temple in Palmyra he had restored, when his soldiers had injured and plundered the building, proving also in Rome the honor in which he held this god. He placed in this temple besides the statue of the Sun, that of Belus also, and probably the temple was arranged in the interior like that of Palmyra. Pl. 15, fig. 8, shows the outer view, and pl. 16, fig. 15, the ground plan of the Temple of the Sun in Rome. According to P. Victor, this temple lay in the 7th district, which included a part of the Quirinal hill. The modern topographers of Rome may therefore be right in asserting that the remains of the rich marble entablature found in the gardens of the Colonna in Rome belong to this temple.
The temple was not accessible upon all sides, being built with its back against another building, as the remains of walls and substructures show, which Serlio and Palladio saw, but of which nothing more now remains. The plan of the temple cannot be given with certainty. Our drawings are made according to Palladio's report, who saw the most of it and drew a restoration of it, and according to the idea of Canina. The temple itself stood in a great court, whose rear side was formed by the above mentioned walls of other buildings. On both sides were walls with semicircular niches with statues, and a similar wall inclosed the front side until the Baths of Constantine were erected there. The temple is a pseudodipteros with three rows of columns in front of the cella, of which the foremost had 12, the two others only 6 columns standing behind the first, third, and fifth columns of the front on both sides of the door. This arrangement is unusual, and indicates a considerable decline of art. In the interior the temple was a hypæthros, for Vitruvius states that all temples which are dedicated to the Sun must admit the sunlight from above. As the great height of the temple necessitated two tiers of columns one over the other, galleries were built on both sides which extended round upon the fore and rear walls. These galleries were ascended by means of staircases in the vestibule of the temple. It is probable that the acroteria at the top of the gable was adorned with the statue of Helios in his chariot drawn by the horses of the sun.
22. Tacitus, Probus to Diocletian. Tacitus was too old and reigned too short a time to undertake any great works, but he prosecuted the work of the Forum of Ostia, commenced by Aurelian, and sent thither, at his own expense, one hundred columns of Numidian marble, 23 feet long. Upon the site of his own house in Rome he erected baths, and sold his property in Mauritania in order to improve, with the proceeds, the Capitoline temple. Probus undertook the construction of several highways and hydraulic works, upon which he employed the legions that they might not be idle in time of peace. This, however, was the occasion of his death; for the soldiers who did not wish to work, slew the emperor, and afterwards erected a monument in his honor.
Of the emperors who succeeded Probus we have nothing to remark until the reign of Diocletian, who was a prince no less valiant than active, and completed important buildings in Rome, Milan, Carthage, and Nicomedia. Of Diocletian's architectural activity the most striking proofs are the Baths in Rome, the Villa of Salona, and the column in Alexandria. The Baths of Diocletian were only commenced by that emperor and were completed under Constantine and Galerius, but were nevertheless named from their founder. The ruins of this structure are very extensive, and give a better idea of the style of these magnificent buildings than the ruins of the Baths of Caracalla. The great circular hall, xystus, as the middle point of the edifice, has yet the eight great granite columns which supported the cross-vault, and of which we have shown the beautiful Composite capitals in pl. 19, fig. 15. This hall now forms one of the most beautiful of the Roman churches, viz. Madonna degli Angeli alle Ccrtosa (pl. 46, fig. 19, ground plan, and fig. [20] section). There are yet visible the main entrance with the rooms where bathers undressed, the various bath halls, and the site of the swimming pond. In the outer circumference, the site of the theatre, two libraries and two round temples, one of which was dedicated to Mercury and the other to Hercules, are still discernible. Here, too, belongs the Doric capital which we have represented in pl. 19, fig. 4. One of the temples with its dome remains, and serves for a church. Diocletian erected a hall, which he called lovia, in the neighborhood of the theatre of Pompey.
Quite as considerable as the ruins of the baths are those of the villa of the emperor at Spalatro, the old Salona, whither the emperor withdrew on his abdication, to repose after his reign of twenty-five years. It is evident from the extent and arrangement of these ruins that not a bodyguard merely surrounded the emperor in his philosophical retreat, but a large retinue, for a great part of the building seems to have been adapted for dependants. There are also the remains of a Pantheon and of a temple of Jupiter as well as a chapel of Æsculapius. The halls and large and small rooms, the arcades, basilicas, baths, and all the arrangements which the conveniences of an imperial palace demand, are very multifarious.
But size and splendor could not supply the want of a high art, whose decline the buildings of Diocletian all evince. Not only were the columns set upon pedestals, but even upon projecting consoles; and instead of straight architraves there are everywhere arches. The order is almost entirely the Corinthian or the Composite, overloaded with ornaments, while the capitals are thin, stiff, and graceless. The proportions are defective everywhere, the cornices being too high, the friezes convex, and the architraves having only two fillets and a clumsy cyma. The doors are broad and low, and are almost crushed by heavy pediments upon great consoles. Everything is arbitrary, and every law of art seems forgotten. As in Palmyra and Baalbec exuberance and extravagance prevail, so the buildings of Gallienus and of Diocletian indicate the weakness and poverty of age. In place of a beautiful architectural art, there is a miserable empiricism.
23. Constantine and his Family. We now approach the point which we regard as the limit of the architecture of genuine antiquity. Constantine is still a conspicuous figure in the history of the world. In battle he was no less fortunate than brave; and when after a protracted contest with his rivals he found himself at the head of his kingdom, he consecrated the last ten years of his life exclusively to internal affairs. Yet we can here consider his activity only in so far as it is necessary to the knowledge of the state of art of his time, and briefly mention what was accomplished with regard to it under him and his immediate successors.
When Constantine, after the death of Constantius in the year 306 A. D., assumed the command in Gaul, and had secured the borders against invasion from that direction, he marched against the internal foes, and the decisive battle near Rome made him master of the metropolis. The fine arch in Rome is still the witness of this triumph. It was decreed to him by the Senate and the people, and is the only monument among the buildings of Rome attributable with certainty to the time of Constantine. But in fact no monument is so well adapted as this to show the melancholy state into which architecture and the plastic arts had then fallen. Pl. 18, fig. 13, gives the elevation; fig. 14, the ground plan, and pl. 17, fig. 21, the section of this arch. The monuments of earlier emperors, with their ornaments, furnished the material. The main proportions of the structure, which on the whole are yet very beautiful, were apparently taken from another triumphal arch, as well as most of the bas-reliefs, and the statues placed over the columns. The great bulk of the work is of marble. The work of the columns indicates the time of Hadrian, the statues and bas-reliefs are of the time of Trajan, Hadrian, and Antonine; only the strips under the round bas-reliefs bear sculptures which have reference to Constantine and the conquest of Rome. Besides these, the Victories in the archivolts and on the pedestals of the columns belong to that time.
All these sculptures, however, at once impress the spectator with the decline of art; and the incorrect proportions and clumsy execution of the cornices have the same effect. At the same time, Constantine dedicated the basilica named after him, which his predecessor Maxentius had begun to build; and he likewise adorned the circus and built the baths which bear his name.
To this time also belongs, to judge from the architecture, the monument existing in Treves called the Porta Nigra, which probably belonged to the fortifications, and was perhaps the residence of the commander of the fortress. The monument of the Secundians near Igel, not far from Treves and the Rhine Bridge of Cologne, of which the remains are visible at low tide between Cologne and Deutz, as well as the bridge over the Danube (probably its remains are near the Iron Gate, see page 84), were all buildings by Constantine. His great undertaking, however, was the foundation of a new residential city, whose progress he fostered so cordially, that the new Rome (which name it long bore in common with the name Constantinopolis) was ready for dedication in the 25th year of his reign, 330 A. D.
Constantine comprehended the tendencies of his age, and the dangers that had long threatened the kingdom were not concealed from him. Only some great reform could avail against them, and the emperor was obliged to oppose a new city to the overgrown metropolis, and thus as it were reduce the queen of cities to the rank of other cities. A new form of government was connected with this change, and Constantine introduced it by separating the municipal power which the general had hitherto exercised in the provinces from the military, appointing special officials for every part of the civil administration, and confining the generals to the army. In the same way the emperor struck at the power of the Roman senate, taking with him into the new residence many of the most distinguished families, and giving them positions there, forming a court, offices, and titles, and so creating an aristocracy dependent upon himself alone. Finally, the emperor, induced by the great number of converts to the Christian religion, in order to obtain a new support, put himself at the head of the movement, and by his countenance controlled the councils of the church.
Architectonically the new Home was only a phantom of the old. The magnificence of the latter was the fruit of many years of the prime of the empire and of art. In Constantine's time the latter had declined. The colossus of the empire yet stood, but the springs of vitality were dried up. The emperor consequently, to build anew, was obliged to destroy the old. The tolerance of the Christian religion was proclaimed, and the old system fell, and with it fell all of artistic greatness and glory which the people had hitherto achieved, to serve as material for the new order. Only the technicality remained, and this was poor and awkward. Originally, the new city was to have been placed between Troas and Ilium, and the ground was even surveyed, and the marking out of the walls commenced, when the emperor altered his plan and chose the much more eligible site of Byzantium, where he had the further advantage that Byzantium was already a city, needing only improvements. Thus it could after a few years compete with Rome.
Although the building of many Christian churches is ascribed to Constantine, yet the real number must be very small; for on the one hand, Constantine did not adopt the Christian religion until he was quite old, and on the other hand, all the churches contained columns from the heathen temples, and the yet vigorous power of the priests would not then have allowed free play to such vandalism, and the destruction of the buildings. But that Constantine's immediate successors, and even members of his own family, executed such works, appears from the church of St. Agnes, which Constantine's daughter, Constantia, built. It is a three-aisled basilica (pl. 27, fig. 14, view; pl. 46, fig. 16, ground plan) of beautiful proportions but built of fragments, having columns of the Composite and Corinthian orders, and of various kinds of marble. Instead of straight architraves, arches are everywhere employed. At this time also was built the mausoleum of Helena, the sister of Constantine, on the Nomentanian Way. It was a circular edifice in the form of the Pantheon, with seven niches in the interior, and a vestibule of four columns. In this mausoleum was the beautiful porphyry sarcophagus, with bas-reliefs representing fighting horsemen and captive barbarians, which now stands in the museum Pio Clementino. Some authorities ascribe this sarcophagus not to Helena the sister, but to Helena the mother of Constantine. Ammianus Marcellinus, however, tells us that a sarcophagus adorned with wreaths of plants, figures of children representing genii, a peacock, and a lamb, was found in a circular edifice like the former, which contained the grave of Constantine's mother. Pius VI. had the sarcophagus brought to the Museum of the Vatican.
The Orders
Before we proceed to the architectural history of the middle ages, it will be necessary to say a few words upon the five orders of columns. As we remarked in our sketch of the architecture under the Roman emperors, all rules had fallen into oblivion with the decline of art towards the close of that period. The buildings of the period betray an uncertainty in the choice of columns, cornices, and ornaments, and too often the most unfitting details are united to a whole which seems then only a patchwork, in which all harmonious arrangement is wanting. The artists felt this when art gradually awoke from its long sleep, and they perceived the need of again investigating the old rules of art. They had no other material upon which to base their researches than the remains of those ancient buildings that were then in tolerable preservation, and we hence find such artists as Raphael and Michel Angelo zealously busying themselves to form their taste upon the antique monuments, and to measure and draw their details. They were afterwards imitated by such architects as Palladio, Serlio, Alberti, Scamozzi, and Vignola, and so gradually arose from the study of the old monuments the five orders, the Tuscan, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, and Roman or Composite. But as those artists did not extend their researches beyond Italy, we might even say beyond the immediate precincts of Rome, we find in them references only to the Roman style of building, and the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders of the Greeks are altogether disregarded.
Although the organization of the orders as such is truly the work of the age of the Renaissance, and although the results of the investigations of Vignola, as well as of his co-laborers Palladio, Serlio, and Scamozzi, who lived in the 16th century, ought to be mentioned in their chronological order, yet it seems proper to consider the various orders in this place, as they appear to have been the result of the profound study of the architectural remains of Roman antiquity.
Although the various orders as they were classified by these four architects often differ materially, according to the artistic knowledge and taste of the designer, or according to his predilection for a special monument, yet in the following remarks we shall confine ourselves to the orders of Vignola. They have for centuries, by universal consent, taken precedence of those of the other authorities, and were even the only ones considered classic by architects, until a better acquaintance with the architecture of ancient Greece proved the existence of something higher in art than Roman architecture.
VII. Plate 20: Classical Columns, Doors, and Balusters
To an order belongs, 1, the column, with its base and capital; 2, the entablature, consisting of architrave, frieze, and cornice; 3, the pedestal; 4, the parts necessary to the arches between the columns, that is, the impost with its cornice, the arch with its mouldings, and the intercolumniation. We shall describe these various parts in each of the orders. The measure of which we avail ourselves in the account of the single parts of the orders is the modulus, that is, half the diameter of the lower part of the column, an absolute measure, inasmuch as it may be employed upon every column, whether large or small, provided its lower diameter be known. The module of the order may be found when the whole height has been determined. Tims, for example, the Tuscan column has in height 14 modules, and with pedestal and entablature 21 modules, 9 parts (pl. 20, fig. 1). We remark here that the module is divided, according to Vignola, into 12 parts, and each part into 4 minutes. Other architects divide the module into 24, even into 30 parts; Wiebeking, for instance, into 50 minutes. We, however, follow the division of Vignola. If then we know that a Tuscan order to be employed is 21 feet, 9 inches, in height, the module will be = 1 foot, and the lower diameter of the column be = 2 feet. If the order is 43 feet, 6 inches high, then the module will be = 2 feet, and the lower diameter = 4 feet, from which the module measure may be derived for all details. The Doric column is 16 modules, and the whole order (pl. 20, fig. 2) 25 modules, 4 parts in height. The Ionic order (fig. 3) is 28 modules, 6 parts, the column alone 18 modules. The Corinthian order (fig. 4) as well as the Roman or Composite (fig. 5) is 32 modides, the columns alone 20 modules in height.
VII. Plate 21: Classical Column Arrangement and Ornamentation
1. The Tuscan Order. The Tuscan order is that which the Etruscans employed in their buildings, and although, as we have already remarked, there were many buildings of this style in Rome, yet no traces of them have come down to us. Vignola was thus obliged to create his Tuscan order, although he cleaves to the slightest trace of it in the works of Vitruvius. Pl. 21, fig. 1, represents the Tuscan column arrangement, and we see from the accompanying numbers that the shaft of the column has 12 modules, base and capital 1 module, and the entablature one fourth of the whole height, consequently 4\(\frac{1}{2}\) modules. This relative height of the entablature Vignola adopts in all his orders. Pl. 20, fig. 6, shows the column arrangement with arches, according to which the breadth of the arches between the imposts is 5\(\frac{1}{2}\) modules, and the height of the keystone of the arch is 1 module, whereby the point of commencement of the impost cornice, a (fig. 7), and the archivolt b, are readily determined. Pl. 23, fig. 1, gives the Tuscan arrangement of arches with pedestals to the columns, where the distance from centre to centre of the columns is 12\(\frac{3}{4}\) modules, but the span of the arch 8\(\frac{3}{4}\) modules. Thereby, the breadth of the imposts is given; so is their height, since the archivolt of the arch = 1 module. Pl. 22, fig. 1, shows the detailed construction of the Tuscan capital and entablature, where the architrave, a, is = 1 module; the frieze, b, = 1 module, 2 parts; and the cornice, c, = 1 module, 2 parts high, d, is the under view of the cornice; b, the capital of the column c, 1 module high, of which e is the under view. These details determine the reduction of the column as being from 2 modules to 1 module, 7 parts. The numbers in the figure show the various heights and projections. Pl. 20, fig. 7, shows, in a, the upper view of the half column, and of the pedestal; in b, the impost with its cornice, a, and the archivolt, b. At a is the view of the pedestal and of the base, with their heights and projections accurately represented. The Tuscan order has the character of simplicity. It has been employed, among other architects, by Le Brosse, in the Palais Luxemburg, by Le Mercier upon the Palais Royal in Paris, and by Mansard in the Orangery at Versailles.
2. The Doric Order. Vignola composed two Doric orders, one with dentals, the other with modillions, which harmonize with each other in the important points, and differ much in detail. For the first style Vignola seems to have taken the Doric order of the theatre of Marcellus in Rome as his type; whilst the other was founded upon the remains discovered at Albano. The Doric order has its difficulties, on account of the placing of the triglyphs in the frieze, for which reason it is not adapted to all columnar distances, as in many the relation of the metopes to the triglyphs would be untrue. The placing of the columns and the entablature respectively, are shown in pl. 21, fig. 3, where it appears that in this case, the columns from centre to centre must have distances of 7\(\frac{1}{2}\) modules if the metopes and triglyphs are to be true. In the arrangement of columns with arches (pl. 23, fig. 2), the distance must be 10 modules, so that, as 1 triglyph and 1 metope require a space of 2\(\frac{1}{2}\) modules, 2 triglyphs and 2 metopes may find place; and in the same way in the arrangement of columns upon pedestals, and with arches, the distance must be 15 modules to accommodate 2 more triglyphs, and 2 more metopes. Pl. 21, fig. 2, gives the details of the entablature, capital, and of the upper part of the shaft of the column of the dental style, in which the reduction of the column to 1 module, 8 parts, may be seen; and the remaining measures to the complete drawing of this order may be partly read, and partly calculated from the adjoining scale, a is the under view of the half column and of the half capital, whence it may be seen that the abacus is square and the echinus round. In b is presented the under view of the entablature, with the ornament of the under view of the corona. Pl. 22, fig. 3, on the other hand, represents the entablature, and the upper part of the column of the Doric order of the modillion style. Here, instead of the dental, the arrangement of the modillion style is evident, and more plainly in the under view a. The measurements are here also sufficiently indicated, so that we need not enlarge upon them. Fig. 2 represents the Doric basis and the Doric pedestal in the front view, and below, the half upper view of the same. In a, there is a part of the impost, with its cornice, and the archivolt, one module broad, which, reckoning from without inwards, consists of a supercilium, a torus, a socle, and two stripes. The Doric order of the dental style is especially adapted for external decoration, on account of the strength of the profile, and of the broad projection of the corona, through which the rain water is carried clear of the building; and on the other hand the modillion style is peculiarly adapted to vestibules, galleries, halls, &c. Pl. 19, fig. 4, shows the capital of the order of Albano, and fig. 5, that of the Baths of Diocletian at Rome, which Scamozzi has taken as the model of his Doric order. Many builders have employed the Doric order without the triglyphs, because in many cases it is almost impossible to obtain a proper distribution of them. So, for example, Bramante in the palace of the Cancelleria in Rome, Kaphael in the Chigi Palace, and Bernini in the great colonnade before St. Peter's in Rome, have omitted the triglyphs; and, it would indeed have been very difficult for Bernini to have made a correct disposition of them, since the columns on the exterior have wider distances than those of the interior, on account of the circular form of the colonnade. The arrangement of Michael Angelo on the Farnesian Palace, that of Scamozzi on the new Procurate in Venice, and that of Palladio on the basilica in Vicenza, are very regular.
In pl. 20, fig. 8, we have given an example of the Greek Doric order, with the entablature and the upper part of the shaft of the column, its under part with the steps upon which the columns stand, which have no base; next a section through the entablature, and in a the under view of the corona, showing that there are modillions over the metopes, which the Roman Doric order did not have. Fig. 9 shows in b the foot and in a the capital of the pilaster, in c the construction of the neck of the column, in d that of the flutings, in e the columnar distance, and on the lower left the construction of the astragal on the under part of the echinus.
VII. Plate 22: Classical Capitals and Bases
3. The Ionic Order. Upon the whole this is one of the most graceful of the orders notwithstanding many irregularities in the capitals, owing to its two different aspects, and which often make it a very difficult order to employ. The two different aspects of the capital arise from the peculiar position of the volutes, which are only seen in front and rear, whilst the sides exhibit the cushions connecting them. It was particularly disagreeable in the corner columns, the sides being freely exposed to view. The Greeks tried to obviate the difficulty by placing the volutes diagonally, thus making them appear in the front views of two different sides. This, however, is only a poor expedient, as it causes an irregularity, and it is therefore preferable to substitute corner pillars for columns, and to give them caps of four equal sides. Pl. 21, fig. 5, shows the simple Ionic style, exhibiting the rule that the whole order with the entablature should have 22\(\frac{1}{2}\) modules, of which the column with its base and the capital have 18. Fig. 4 shows the complete construction for the capital, and below on the left the arrangement of the eye, in order to construct the spiral of the volute of regular arcs only. To accomplish this, the position and size of the eye of the volute must first be ascertained in accordance with the measures given in fig. 3. Next draw the perpendicular a, b, and the horizontal line c, d, through the centre of the eye, construct the square a, c, b, d, and bisect its sides by the perpendiculars 1, 3, and 2, 4. Divide each of these lines into six equal parts, 1, 2, 3, . . . . . 12. Prolong the line 4, 1, to the little disk in fig. 4, and make this the centre of the volute. Then place one leg of the compasses in 1 and construct a quadrant from the centre of the volute to the prolongation of the line 1,2; then construct from 2 with the new radius a quadrant to the prolongation of the line 2, 3; next the quadrants from 3 to 4, and from 4 to 5, always changing the radius according to the distance from the centre of the volute. To obtain the second spiral, proceed in the same manner, constructing the quadrants 5, 6; 6,7; 7, 8; 8, 9, always changing the radius as before. The third spiral is finally determined by the quadrants 9, 10; 10, 11; 11, 12, and 12 to the top of the capital, constructed with their appropriate radii. The greatest accuracy is required to avoid corners, and to end the volute with the proper curve. The second or parallel spiral is determined in the same manner from the points lying one third of the distance 1–5, towards the interior from the former centres of construction.
The Ionic capital contains the following mouldings (fig. 4), a supercilium, k, a foliated cyma, i, the socle of the volute, h, a scotia, g, an ovolo with the decorative serpents' eggs, serpents' tongues and arrow heads f, a bead, e, and a socle, d. The flutes, a, are separated by the ridges, b. Pl. 22, fig. 5, shows the entablature and the capital of the Ionic order, the latter from the front and side, and in half under view. Fig. 4, gives the Ionic pedestal and base of the column. Under A is the impost with its cornice and the archivolt, which is 9\(\frac{1}{4}\) parts broad, and consists of a slab, cornice, and two stripes. Pl. 23, fig. 4, shows the Ionic arch arrangement, being 8\(\frac{1}{2}\) modules span, to 10\(\frac{1}{2}\) modules of clear columnar distance. Fig. 5, shows the same order with pedestals, where the span is eleven modules, by an intercolumniation of thirteen modules. All the measures are given in the drawing. The Ionic capital allows various ornaments; pl. 19, fig. 7, shows the simple capital of the Temple of Fortuna Virilis in Rome; fig. 8, represents an Ionic capital from the villa Borghese, in which sphinxes are arranged as ornaments in a very peculiar manner.
VII. Plate 23: Classical Arcades
4. The Corinthian Order. We have already aimed to show in the course of this treatise that the Corinthian order was no especial order among the Greeks, but that the Ionic entablature was placed upon capitals adorned in the Egyptian style; that the order was not invented in Rome, and that it is most probably of Phœnician origin. In pl. 21, fig. 7, we have the simple Corinthian arrangement of columns, whence it appears that the intercolumniation is 4\(\frac{2}{3}\) modules in the clear, while the column with base and capital has 20 modules, the shaft alone 16\(\frac{2}{3}\), and the base one. The entire order is 25 modules high, as here, too, Vignola has followed his principle of giving one fourth of the height of the column to the entablature. In the Corinthian arches (pl. 23, fig. 6), the span is nine modules, and the columnar distance between the centres of the columns is twelve modules. The height of the impost is found by deducting from the height of the column half the span and 1 module from the archivolt. When the columns are placed on pedestals, the span is 12 modules, by a distance of 16 modules, the breadth of the imposts being self-evident and their height as before. The entablature and capital with the upper part of the shafts of this order are given in pl. 22, fig. 7, with the requisite facilities for calculating the proportions. a is the under view of the corona with the modillions. Fig. 6 gives the Corinthian pedestal and base, with the upper view of half these parts; at a is the impost cornice with the archivolt, showing its mouldings, which in this order are usually decorated very richly.
The construction of the Corinthian capital we have endeavored to illustrate in pl. 21, fig. 6, where the right side gives the profile of the cup and leaves, whilst the left is a perspective view of the entire decoration, a is the under view of a diagonal half of the capital, exhibiting in the same manner the profile and perspective. The breadth of the ground plan is determined by a square whose diagonal = 4 modules. On the sides of the square construct equilateral triangles. The concavity of the abacus is then determined by the arch constructed from the apex of such a triangle with one of its sides for radius. The distribution of the leaves and other ornaments is seen from the ground plan; their respective heights and curves are given in the scale near the elevation; and finally, the projection of the leaves and volutes, is determined by a straight line drawn from the astragal to the point of the abacus, which must touch the extreme points of projection of all these parts. The single parts of the capital are as follows: a, cyma of the abacus, the truncated corners are termed the horns of the abacus; b, slab of the abacus; c, volute; d, pedicle with small leaves; e, large leaves; f, small leaves resting on the astragal.
The Corinthian capital admits of multifarious decorations, and we meet with ornaments of olive leaves, laurel leaves, parsley, acanthus, palm-leaves, and even of ostrich feathers. Various kinds of Corinthian capitals are shown on pl. 19: fig. 9, from the Tower of the Winds; fig. 10, from the monument of Lysicrates in Athens; fig. 11, from the Palace of the Cæsars, or the Temple of Peace; fig. 12, from that of Jupiter Stator; and fig. 13, from the portico of the Pantheon in Rome. The base also is richly ornamented. Sometimes the flutings do not extend to the foot of the shaft, but the latter is surrounded below by a rich ornament. Pl. 19 shows examples of this. Fig. 22 is the foot of a column from the Baths in Nismes, and fig. 23, the richly decorated foot of a column from the Basilica St. Praxeas in Rome, executed, however, in a style which we will not advocate, as it borders on the meretricious and does not harmonize with the slenderness of the shaft.
5. The Composite Order. It was long a question whether the Composite order should be regarded as a peculiar one, distinctly different from the Corinthian, or whether, as was the case with the Ionic and Corinthian orders of the Greeks, both had the same entablature, and were only distinguished from each other by the capitals. Palladio and Scamozzi, however, classed those monuments which had that peculiar capital differing so essentially from the various Corinthian capitals, and which had originated in a combination of the Ionic and Corinthian orders, as a peculiar order, which they called the "Roman," and which later received the much more expressive title "Composite," or combined order, and these architects invented also an entablature peculiar to it. Vignola has, beyond dispute, succeeded best in seizing the real character of the Composite order, and in giving it a regularity or peculiarity more prominent than that which his predecessors had allotted to it. The chief dimensions, that is, the heights of the columns and capitals, the height of the entablature in its chief parts, the intercolumniations, and the arcades, agree entirely with the Corinthian order. On the other hand the proportions and arrangements of the single members and their decoration in many places are very different, as an attentive consideration of the drawings will show. Pl. 21, fig. 9, shows the simple arrangement of the columns in this order; pl. 23, fig. 8, the columnar arrangement of the same with arches; and fig. 9, the columnar arrangement upon pedestals and with arches. Pl. 22, fig. 8, gives the view of the pedestals and of the lower part of the shaft of this order, with a half upper view of the same parts, and at A, the impost cornice and the archivolt of the arch, which, considered from without inwards, consists of a supercilium, cyma, cavetto, socle, stripe, bell-moulding, and a fillet. Pl. 22, fig. 9, shows the capital and the upper part of the shaft with indications of the reduction and the entablature, of whose cornice the under view is given in A. It will be seen from the drawing that the Composite order has no modillions; but on the other hand the remaining members, with the exception of the height of the corona, are much more boldly profiled, especially the dentals. The construction of the Composite capital is illustrated in pl. 21, fig. 8. The ground plan. A, and the elevation are drawn according to the accompanying measures in the manner described with regard to the Corinthian capital. The sole difference is this, that instead of the flower stalk with the little leaves and volutes, large volutes are here employed as in the Ionic capital, having their groove, border, and the echinus, with the serpent's eggs and tongues or arrow heads between them. The projection of the rows of leaves and of the volutes upon the capital is determined by the oblique line from the astragal to the horn of the abacus. The leaves thereby obtain a much inferior projection, as, on account of the height of the volutes, the leaf-coronals must be lower, for which reason the Composite capital often appears heavy and overladen. The frieze of this order, and indeed a great many of the members, admit of a rich decoration, and the capitals especially have at all times been fancifully ornamented. As examples of such capitals we give in pl. 19, fig. 15, the Composite capital from the great hall of the Baths of Diocletian, and fig. 14, a capital from the church San Pietro in Albano. The construction of the attic base, and the scotia belonging to it, which are employed in this order, are represented in pl. 20, figs. 13 and 14.
6. The Balusters. The Balustrades, or Balusters, which were sometimes introduced between the columns, or in the attics of the new buildings, were constructed simply or richly according to the orders, and for the sake of completeness we have included the balusters according to Vignola in our illustrations, although they are now very rarely or never introduced. The design for the balusters must include that for the pedestal, which consists of the plinth extending under the balusters, of the cubes supplying the places of balusters, and of the cornice extending over all the balusters. Pl. 20, fig. [16], are balusters and pedestals for the Tuscan order, in which the latter receive decorations of rustic work or bossage. Fig. 17 is a baluster for the Doric order; fig. 18 for the Ionic; and fig. 19, for the Corinthian and Composite. It will be seen that the balusters and pedestals agree with the orders in the symmetry, slimness, and richness of the members. At present iron balusters are much more common than those of heavy stone, as in the former greater lightness and more elegance are attained.
7. Reduction and Torsion of the Shaft of the Column. Columns are reduced in various ways. Although in the majority, and the most beautiful of antique monuments, this reduction is achieved by a straight line from the foot to the neck, yet there are many such buildings in which this is not the case, but whose columns are either cylindrical for a certain distance upwards, and then begin to diminish, or in which the greatest strength is not at the base but a little way up the column, which is there somewhat swelled. We will here mention the two most usual ways of drawing the reduction. When the height of the column and its diameters at the base and the capital have been determined, make the column (fig. 10) cylindrical up to a third of its height, construct a semicircle upon the diameter of the column, and let fall a perpendicular line from the top of the shaft upon this diameter, which will intersect the semicircle in some point; divide the arc thus obtained into any number of equal parts, and the upper two thirds of the shaft into as many equal horizontal stripes. If, then, perpendiculars are erected on the various points of the arc, and prolonged until they strike the horizontal lines in the shaft, the points of intersection will mark the diameters of the reduced stripes. The other kind of reduction is that of a swelling of the column, that is, a reduction upwards and downwards. After the proper diameter of the column (fig. 11) and the height of the column are determined, give this diameter to the shaft at one third of its height, and erect at its extremities perpendiculars extending to the base and to the astragal. Prolong the diameter at one third the height, sideways, giving it the length of two thirds the height, and half a diameter. Connect the highest and lowest points of the shaft, by straight lines, with the end of the prolonged diameter. From the axis of the shaft mark off on these lines half the length of a diameter, when the points thus obtained will be those of the upper and lower reductions. From the apex of the triangle formed by the two lines and the axis of the shaft, lines may then be drawn at will to any number of points on the axis, and semi-diameters marked off on the same, when all the points thus obtained will lie in the curve of reduction. The French architect, Blondel, regards the first conchoid of Nicomedes as the curve of reduction, and gives an instrument to draw this conchoid.
The twisted columns found in the altar of St. Peter's at Rome, in the church Val de Grace in Paris, and elsewhere, can only be regarded as abortive creations of a sickly fancy, and as exhibitions of a vicious style. In the former the chevalier Bernini sinned against good taste, and Le Due imitated him in the latter. We give here the construction of such columns in order to show what trouble is taken to accomplish a paltry result (pl. 20, fig. 12). To draw the twisted column you must first make the ground plan (fig. 13) where the smaller circle indicates the cylinder of the column. Divide this circle into eight parts, and from all the points draw parallels with the axis of the column. The axis of the column you divide by horizontals into as many times eight parts as the column has twists (generally six, consequently into forty-eight parts). The points of intersection of these lines and of those which were drawn parallel with the axis from the smaller circle will then mark the course of a twisted line, which rests upon the small cylinder. From the points thus obtained mark off half the diameter of the column outwards, when the terminal points of these horizontals will mark the exterior contour of the spiral.
8. Doors and Windows. We have already stated (p. 29) that the doors and windows must harmonize with the cornices and members of the order, and for this reason Vignola has sketched especial doors for each order, although their form and size are always dependent upon the general relations and particularly upon the size of the building itself. The Tuscan door is very simple, twice as high as broad, and framed with a cavetto and socle, while the lintel, whose upper surface is curved, and the jambs are adorned with rustic work. By rustic work we understand that kind of freestone masonry in which the several courses of the stones are distinctly marked by sunk joints or grooves, either chamfered or otherwise cut. The faces admit of great variety of treatment; and, quite contrary to what its name literally imports, the rustic work is frequently made to show the very reverse of careless rudeness, namely, studied ornamentation by means of highly finished moulded joints; and even when the faces are vermiculated, or otherwise made rough, it is apparent that it is done purposely or artificially, especially when the vermiculation appears in panels surrounded by smooth borders.
Vignola gives the same proportions to the Doric door as to the Tuscan, but lays it in a smooth wall and gives it a richer frame adorned with two stripes. Larger and especially magnificent doors are laid between columns, and receive a completed Doric entablature, surmounted sometimes by a balcony railing in place of an attic. As an example of such a door Vignola adduces the gateway which he drew for the Palace of the Cancellaria for Cardinal Farnese in Rome (pl. 20, fig. 15). This palace was of stones which were taken partly from the Coliseum, partly from the Arch of Gordianus, and was built by Bramante for Cardinal Rafael Riario, but completed by Vignola. Gates must always bear the character of the buildings to which they belong. The door for the Ionic order has a richer frame and a cornice similar to the Ionic entablature, and resting on consoles (hyperthyrum). A very beautiful example of such doors in ancient times is the newly discovered door of the Erectheum upon the Acropolis of Athens. The Corinthian and Composite orders have doors which are richly adorned and finished with a cornice with modillions. The height is rather more than double the breadth. An example of this door is that of the church San Lorenzo in Damaso at Rome (fig. 14). This church, also, Bramante undertook at the instance of the Cardinal Riario, but Vignola completed it, for which reason the doors were designed by him.
The windows have the same proportions as the doors, inasmuch as, with few exceptions, they are twice as high as broad. If they are arched above, their height exceeds double the breadth, but not by the full height of the arch. The windows have also frames which agree with the style of the building, and cornices sometimes resting upon consoles. Formerly they had triangular or arched gables over this cornice, but that error is now avoided. Sometimes the windows receive lower cornices with mouldings, and often resting on consoles.
Monuments of the Gauls and Britons (Celts)
We come now to a series of monuments, which, while the antiquities of Egypt, Greece, and Rome were studied with an untiring zeal, remained unnoticed and unknown; partly, perhaps, because they lay so near, and in part because they had no artistic value. We mean the monuments of our own ancestors, the Druidical and Celtic remains, which strongly remind us of the Cyclopean remains of Greece. The Celtic, Druidical, Gallic, and British monuments consist mainly of single or several blocks of stone, put together with rude strength, and bear witness of the time when all finer cultivation was unknown to the people who erected them. From them to the period of an enlightened architecture there is one immense bound, for there was no gradual advance among those people who received from the Romans and other strangers who came and settled among them their culture and art, all complete. If, then, we wish to examine the style of building peculiar to these people, we must go back to the most remote antiquity, and begin with single stones.
The use of rough stones as monuments is traceable to the earliest times, but they had a lofty purpose, for among more than one people they were honored as the symbol of the divinity. In almost all countries of the world such idol-stones are found, which were the objects of the worship of the early races of those lands. The north, especially, abounds in them. England, Scotland, the Hebrides and the Orkneys, Germany, Hungary, Sweden, Denmark, Russia, Siberia as far as Kamtschatka, offer specimens of them, as well as Tartary, Thrace, Greece, China, and the coasts of Africa. Even in the new world they occur.
The Celtic monuments, so far as we know them, seem to have all served either for worship or sepulture. Only a very few appear to have been devoted to domestic purposes, and we shall presently endeavor to discover the intent of a number of them.
A chronological order in the description of these monuments might be difficult to follow, for though some savans have sought to do this, yet they have no authority for their work, and the only point that can be taken for granted is, that none of these monuments were erected after the invasion of the Romans into those countries. All are of Druidical origin, and the Druidical worship was everywhere suppressed by the religion of the conquerors. Of course these remarks do not apply to the mounds, for they were nothing but burial-places, at which there was no further worship than that of memory. In our description we must necessarily employ the Celtic names, so long as no other nomenclature exists, except our translation of these names.
1. Men-hir or Peulvans. An upright perpendicular stone, standing by itself, consecrated to prayer or to remembrance, was called men-hir (long stone) or peulvan (stone pillar), or finally, men-sash (straight stone). In England it is called stone-henge, from stone and henged or hungup, floating; and this generic name is now the peculiar title of the greatest Celtic monument in England, situated in Wiltshire. The men-hir, the simplest and the most numerous of the Celtic monuments, seem to have had very various purposes. Merely human purposes they subserved in only two ways, as boundary stones, and as monuments of great recollections. In religious ways the men-hir served partly as symbols of the divinity, partly as monuments upon the graves of heroes, for three or four men-hir indicated the grave of a chieftain. The excavations among the sepulchral monuments reveal bones, weapons, boars' tusks, antlers of deer, &c. If the men-hir was only the memorial of some important event, there are only weapons there; if there is nothing found, it was only a boundary stone. Very often there are popular interpretations of the intent of the monuments. Thus, the men-hir of Guenezan in France, is called men-cam (the stone of crime); that of Brenantes near Plouaret, bren-an-tec'h (princes' flight). Often the whole region where it stands has a special name, as ker-brezel (place of victory), ker-laouenan (place of joy), &c. &c.
VII. Plate 24: Primitive Standing Stone Architecture of Western Europe
The height of the men-hir varies between 9 and 30 feet, and sometimes the thinner part of the stone stands in the earth. One of the largest men-hir lies in ruins near the great dolmen which is known by the name of the Merchant's Table, and of which we shall presently say something more. This men-hir was once 65 feet long, and there are few Egyptian obelisks of greater length. Men-hir are sometimes discovered with inscriptions upon them, as, for example, that near Joinville, which bears the Roman inscription, "VIROMARUS ISTATILI F" (Viromar, son of Istatilus), or with huge sculptures, as on the Maiden Stone near the town of Brecknock, in Wales, which represent the figures of a man and a woman. These ornaments, however, are unquestionably of a later date, as the original men-hir were wholly constructed of rough stones. When Christianity gradually supplanted Druidism these monuments were zealously destroyed, and there are yet extant old edicts of the kings Chilperich, Childebert (554), Edgar of England (967), whereby all who did not assist in the destruction of the idolatrous stones were threatened with slavery and the scourge. Afterguards, they were wiser, and instead of destroying these stones before which the people were accustomed to pray, they consecrated them to the true God. And they even erected new stones, upon which, as on the men-hir on the Judgment-hill of Carnac in Bretagne (pl. 24, fig. 1), they engraved the form of the cross, or they shaped, the stones themselves into the cross, or wrought Christian sculptures upon the old men-hir that yet remained. Very probably the wayside shrines, so common in Southern Germany and all Catholic countries, arose from the men-hir.
2. Dolmen or Tolmen, Triliths. Dolmen (raised stone, devil's table, witches' table) are monuments which consist of several stones, and which support one or more flat ones like the top of a table. The word dolmen is Celtic, and consists of man (stone) and taol (table), which afterwards was corrupted into tol or doll.
The Dolmen are of three forms. The simplest are those which we will distinguish by the name Half Dolmen, and which seem to be incomplete. They consist of a long stone with one end upon the ground while the other is supported by an upright stone. An example is the Half Dolmen of Kerland near Carnac (fig. 2), upon which a cross was erected when it was changed into a Christian monument. Sometimes the Half Dolmen are only apparently so because the other supporting stone has fallen. Generally the flat top is 10–12 feet long, 5–7 feet high, and 2–3 feet thick. The supporting stones are seldom more than 3 feet high; if they are higher the monument is called Lichaven or Trilith. These monuments are rare. A very beautiful specimen is in the neighborhood of St. Xazaire (department of the lower Loire), consisting of a single stone, 3.26 metres long. 1.64 metres broad, and 2.27 metres thick, whose supports are 2.27 metres high (fig. 5). Strabo mentions in his Egyptian journey, Triliths dedicated to Mercury.
The real Dolmen may be either simple or complicated. The simple Dolmen consists of four stones, three of which form a rectangular grotto of which the fourth side is open, and upon which the fourth stone forms the ceiling. Of this kind is the Dolmen of Trie (pl. 24, fig. 3), in which, in the rear stone, there is a circular hole of which we have no explanation. The top is usually 18–20 feet in length, 12–14 in breadth, and 1\(\frac{1}{2}\)–3 feet in thickness.
Besides these there are Dolmen which consist of a greater number of stones, of which several stand upright and support the top, while others simply serve to fill up the intervening space. Sometimes the top itself consists of several stones. One of the finest of this kind is the Dolmen of Locmariaquer in Bretagne (fig. 10), known by the names of Cæsar's table, table of the merchants, and Dolvarchant. The top is more than 25 feet long, 13 feet broad, and 3 feet thick, and rests upon only three of the numerous stones that formed the wall, and of which some are pushed aside. This Dolmen stands east and west. In England also there are many such Dolmen, especially in the southern counties, and there are some there which are closed up on all sides.
If we return to the original intention of such Dolmen, we should find it, without doubt, to be religious, even if we did not find some of them mentioned by old authors as "Sanctuaries of Mercury." Tacitus says, speaking of Anglesea, the centre of Druidism in England, that in those forests there were altars upon which the blood of captives was burned or rather evaporated, and the Dolmen are such Celtic altars, for upon the majority of them there is a circular depression in which, probably, the blood of the victim was received and thence flowed away through a groove. In Cornwall there is still such a slab 35 feet in length, 19 feet in breadth, and 15 feet in thickness, which is laid over two natural rocks, and in which there are several such depressions, the largest of which is more than 6 feet in diameter. Some have supposed these depressions to be the work of chance, but more than two hundred monuments of the kind remain, and it is not likely that the same chance would have affected all of them.
3. Covered Ways. Covered ways, witches' grottoes, witches' rocks, are properly nothing more than large Dolmen, and are classed by antiquarians with them. These passages are frequently not of the same breadth for the whole distance, but are broader at one end than at the other, and many seem like passages leading to a square or circular hall, in which is a kind of subdivision into three or four compartments. The most remarkable monument of this kind, as well for its preservation as its size, and the immense blocks of which its walls consist, is the famous Witch's Grotto in the neighborhood of Saumur, on the road to Bagneux. Pl. 24, fig. 13, gives the exterior, and fig. 14 the interior view. The monument is well preserved and surrounded with trees. The entrance of the grotto, which, however, is now closed by a door, lies toward the south-east, and is formed by two stones standing the usual width of a door apart. These stones, as well as all those which serve to support the upper slabs, are about 7 feet high, and their thickness varies from 7 inches to 1 foot 9 inches. The exterior breadth of the monument is nearly 15 feet, and the long sides are each composed of four stones, together about 52 feet in length. In the rear a single stone 21 feet long, extending far beyond both side walls, forms the end. All the stones, excepting the two front ones, which form the door and stand perpendicularly, are inclined inwards at the top. The ceiling consists of four stones, the largest of which is 22 feet long, 19 feet broad, and 3 feet thick. This slab is rent lengthwise, and is supported by an upright stone in the centre. Near Essé, a place not far from Kennes, is a similar grotto, which is more than 57 feet long and is divided into two chambers. Fig. 11 represents the exterior view. Of the two chambers one is much the smaller and serves as a kind of vestibule, and is about 13\(\frac{1}{4}\) feet long and 8 feet broad, entirely open in front and lying towards the south-east. A passage between two stones leads into the chief grotto, which is broader than the first room, being 11 feet in front and 12 in the rear. On one of the walls, which is only a continuation of the wall of the first room, the stones project on the inside, forming as it were small chapels. The rear wall of the grotto consists of a single stone, and the ceiling of nine slabs, some of which are six feet thick.
Near Tours is a similar monument called the Grotte des Fées, and represented in fig. 12. The entrance is towards the west, and the grotto is inclosed by 12 rough stones. One fourth of its length is partitioned off by an upright stone, leaving only a passage or door free, and thus a kind of vestibule is formed. The top consists of three stones, the middle one of which is 6 feet thick, that is twice as thick as the other two. The whole length of the monument is 22\(\frac{1}{2}\) feet, its breadth 11 feet, and its height inside 7\(\frac{1}{2}\) and on the outside on the centre top slab 13\(\frac{1}{2}\) feet. Although rough, the stones are more carefully joined than was generally the case with such monuments. There are similar grottoes in France and England; for instance, near Locmariaquer, near Ville-Genvin, and upon the island of Anglesea; also in the province of Münster in Prussia.
A very peculiar monument, somewhat resembling the covered ways, is the double dolmen in a wood upon the island of Anglesea (pl. 24, fig. 4). Two slightly inclined dolmen stand close behind each other, one resting upon four, the other upon three supports. The top of the larger is about 14 feet long, 12 feet broad, and 2\(\frac{1}{2}\) feet thick. The largest supporting stones are about 5 feet high. There is also a very rare monument in the department of Morbihan, bearing the same relation to the covered ways as the half dolmen to the dolmen. It consists (fig. 9) of a row of upright stones, against which another row leans obliquely, and the monument thus appears like a row of half dolmen placed closely together.
Much has been said of the object of these covered ways, and it has not yet been explained. The simplest and most natural idea seems to be, that the platforms of these ways, like that of the dolmen, were devoted to sacrifices celebrated in the presence of the people, while the covered room underneath served for the celebration of mysteries, which only the initiated were allowed to witness. They may also have served as dwellings for the priests, as would appear from their subdivision into chambers.
4. Natural Altars. We have considered the dolmen and the covered ways as sacrificial altars, but there were still others which were arranged with less labor, for nature herself erected them. Greater or smaller blocks of stone that lay upon the ground, either brought by men's hands or found there, were consecrated to the gods of the Druids, and used as sacrificial altars. Such is the Druid altar between Brelevenez and Cleder (Finisterre) (fig. 6), which is nothing but a great stone of 216 cubic feet in size and brought to the spot by men. Upon its top is a square basin of some 14 inches in breadth and 4 inches in depth, made with a chisel, or some similar instrument. From this basin a conduit leads obliquely off on one side. Upon the rim of the basin some runes are cut. Kear the stone stands one of the rude stone crosses by which the first Christians consecrated these altars to obliterate the remembrance of the bloody gods of their ancestors. In England there are many such natural altars.
5. Pierced Stones. In France and more frequently in England, and especially in Wales and Cornwall, there are large upright stone slabs which are bored through from one side to the other. They are supposed to have been connected with the Druidical worship. Healing power is also said to have been attributed to them, the diseased limb having been put through the hole, amid mysterious ceremonies, with a confident anticipation of cure. A similar superstition in France lends force to this hypothesis, and recently such a stone was removed because the peasants were so credulous that they thrust their ailing legs and arms through the hole and firmly believed that they would be healed. There is a similar stone near Duneau in the neighborhood of Conerets, in the department of Sarthe, and we have represented it in pl. 24, fig. 18, at the left. The stone is about 10 feet high, 6 feet broad, and 3 feet thick, and a bough of a neighboring tree has now pushed itself through the hole.
6. Rocking Stones. The rocking stones must be classed among the most remarkable of the Celtic monuments. They are found in many places both in France and England. As their name implies, these monuments consist of huge stones which stand resting on a point in such a manner, either upon the ground or upon other stones, that the slightest touch puts them in motion. As this phenomenon may readily arise from natural causes, it would be wrong to suppose all such stones Druidical monuments. Thus the famous rocking stone near Huelgoet (Finisterre) is certainly nothing else than a rock fallen upon another and happening to balance there. Still in many instances it is impossible to deny the human agency.
The question as to the object of these rocking stones is answered very variously, but unsatisfactorily. One writer thinks that they were arranged with such care and skill only to show how much was then known of the laws of equilibrium. Perhaps these stones, floating as it were in the air, were to represent the world in space, or were a symbol of the power which moves the universe so easily, or a symbol of the vitality that pervades the universe. Dulaur finds some affinity between these stones and those carried about by the Romish priests during drought to attract rain, holding that the stones were moved with a view to occasion favorable weather or to drive away magic. Baudoin makes of them the test of female virtue, because the stones in many parts of Bretagne, for instance near Jaudet, are called Roc'h-werc'het (Roche aux vierges). Only the true and chaste could put the stone in motion.
These rocking monoliths are found in all parts of France and England. The largest is that of Perros-Guyrech (Côte du Nord), being about 43 feet long and broad, and 21 feet high (pl. 24, fig. 8). The surface is flattened by nature and has a kind of hollowing, from which a channel is chiselled, so that it seems as if this enigmatical stone may have served as a Dolmen. The balance is so delicate that a single man can easily move this mass of rock, weighing not less than 1,000,000 pounds. In Bretagne there are several such stones; for instance, near Autun where a granite block, with an egg-shaped top, stands upon another granite block, in such a manner that it moves with the lightest touch. We cannot here mention all, but must not omit that near West Hoadley in the county of Sussex (fig. 7), which is about 22 feet high. It has a pyramidal base which rests upon a granite rock, and it is very easily moved. It is computed at 500 tons in weight.
7. Mounds. We have before mentioned that the simplest sepulchral monument was the upright stone (Men-hir), but distinguished persons received more important monuments. In the most ancient times no other than material greatness was recognised; immense mounds were, therefore, erected as sepulchral remembrances to great men, and the largest pyramids are perhaps nothing but mounds in their highest perfection. This custom of erecting mounds is traced to the earliest times. Herodotus and Homer often mention them, and the Germans of the present day are familiar with the Giants' graves, which popular tradition designates as the graves of a Titanic race of men who lived thousands of years ago. The Etrurian graves also, the grottoes of Corneto (p. 36, pl. 8, figs. 3 and 4, and Division [III]. pl. 11, fig. 1), are nothing but such mounds, as we shall presently describe, but walled with stone. Pallas found the mounds in the north of Asia among the Tschuwashi, Ostiaks, Baltyri, and Samoyedes. Baron Tott found them in Tartary; Volney in the Pashalic of Aleppo as high as 90 feet; Bertram among the savages in Florida. In all parts of America, even among the Botocudi and in French Guyana, the dead are even now buried in an upright posture with their arms, and huge mounds erected over the graves. The Celts called the mounds, if they were constructed of heaped up stones, Galgals (from gal, a stone), and the Britons Cairns.
The dimensions of the mounds are very various, for there are some of immense size, and again others scarcely three feet in height. The round mounds have an almost semi-spherical form, and of this kind are most of the mounds in England, generally surrounded with a little ditch. The broad mound is similar to the round, but with the horizontal diameter much greater, for there are those mentioned, not over 18 feet high, whose diameters are 90, 150, and even 220 feet. The oblong mound resembles the long in shape, and the long diameter is often three to five times greater than the short. There are rarely many of the oblong mounds in a line, but often an oblong one surrounded by several smaller round ones. The broad and oblong mounds are often galgals, and contain covered galleries leading to tomb-chambers. The little conical mounds were formerly very common in England, but have now mostly disappeared under the ploughshare, and they are, therefore, now only found in the uncultivated districts. Their diameter is rarely more than 30 feet, and they are often surrounded by a little ditch.
The twin mounds consist of two mounds in close contact, and possibly inclosed two persons who had been intimate friends. The bell-shaped mounds are found in the neighborhood of Stonehenge, and are probably of more recent date than the others we have mentioned. The mounds, however, must not be confounded with the artificial hills, which were often thrown up to mark the position of boundaries or places of execution, and which were distinguished by being always flattened upon the summit.
The mounds occur partly single, partly in groups. The former are the more common. To these belong, for instance, the mound of Salisbury in Wiltshire (pl. 24, fig. 15). It is of great dimensions, and is considered to be the grave of a king. Its circumference near the ground is 2300 feet, and its perpendicular height about 190 feet. The great number of mounds which surround it at some distance, are supposed to be the graves of important persons buried in the vicinity of the king. The largest mound in France is in the neighborhood of Sarzeau (Morbihan), near the sea, and is known under the name of Butte de Tumiac. It is about 100 feet high, and 400 feet in circumference; it is entirely overgrown with shrubbery, and serves the mariners as a landmark, as it can be discerned far at sea. Near Locmariaquer there is an oblong stone mound. The Mont St. Michel, too, near Carnac (Morbihan) is nothing but a mound erected upon a plateau, upon whose summit a chapel is built, dedicated to the archangel.
Near Pornic, in the department of the Lower Loire, there are several mounds situated in the middle of a plain. One of them has on the north-east side an opening leading to two low galleries of from 2 to 4\(\frac{3}{4}\) feet in width, by a height of about 5 feet. Their length has not yet been traced beyond 7 feet. The diameter of the mound itself, which is a galgal of quartz and calcareous slate, is 75 to 80 feet. Of the other mounds, one has been entirely dug through, and is therefore the most interesting of the group. In it are likewise found the entrances of two galleries (fig. 16) consisting of large rough stones, and forming several spacious halls in the interior of the mound.
In digging up a mound near Fontenay le Marmion, the galleries were found closed above with quarried stones, but the rooms in the interior empty. After digging through a layer of clay, however, which formed the floor, a mass of human bones was discovered, some of which showed traces of fire, whilst others were entirely uninjured. There were found ten different graves, each of which had its gallery leading to a round space which had been the place of burial. There were no objects of metal found in the mounds, but a hatchet of stone, and a number of vases of black earth of peculiar form, and apparently made by hand alone without the assistance of a potter's wheel, from which their extreme age may be inferred. In other mounds also, hatchets of flint have been found together with vases of burnt clay (some of them containing well preserved nuts and acorns), small cutting instruments of stone, spoons made of burnt clay or of shells, a dish exhibiting rude drawings, boars' tusks, &c., but nowhere objects of metal.
In the Orkney islands some remarkable mounds have been examined, and only in the Orkneys, have mounds been found that contained two tiers of tombs. Fig. 17 gives the section of such a mound containing five tombs irregularly distributed throughout the mound, and having no connexion with each other. The mounds of the Orkneys are the only ones in which objects of metal, combs, glass beads, armlets, arms, &c., have been found.
The Gallic tombs of common people deserve especial mention in this place. They consist of an area inclosed by four upright stone slabs, never sunk more than three feet under the surface of the ground, and covered with a rough block. They are sometimes found by hundreds in a limited area, and such a spot is called Carneilloux (from carn, flesh chamber). They are met with frequently both In Bretagne and in England. The remains found in the same are generally surrounded by similar objects with those found in the mounds, and indicate the Celtic period. The architect, Gau, author of a large work on Nubia, found in 1839 a Gallic mound in the neighborhood of Gisors, in the department of Eure, consisting of six rough stones, leaned against each other in pairs, and forming a kind of gable roof over six skeletons (fig. 18, right hand).
8. Sacred Inclosuees (Cromlechs). It is well known that the Greeks and Romans consecrated certain spots to the gods, setting them apart by inclosures. A similar custom is observed among the Celts, and according to Tacitus such places were held in such awe, that except the priest nobody dared enter them otherwise than with bound hands, this being considered as indicative of reverence to the Deity.
These inclosures were of multifarious forms, often very irregular; the most important ones are circular, and termed Cromlechs. They are among the most interesting Druidical monuments.
The inclosures were generally formed by earth walls, surrounded by a ditch. That of Kermurier (Morbihan) is of the shape of a horse-shoe, the opening closed by a straight line. One of the largest is near Begars (Côte du Nord). It forms an ellipse with a long axis of 3000 feet, running north and south. The semicircle at the northern end contains 12 huge stone blocks, 7 others lying along the axis. At the opposite extremity stands a men-hir, 25 feet high.
The cromlechs, or Druidical circles, which sometimes have been called astronomical circles, but without any reason, are bounded by upright stones. In France they are of rarer occurrence than the dolmen and men-hirs, whilst in the British Islands they are more frequent. Fig. 19 represents one from the Orkney islands, somewhat over 300 feet in diameter, very well preserved, and also interesting on account of its picturesque situation. In the centre of the cromlechs was a men-hir as symbol of the Deity to which the inclosure was consecrated, and which was worshipped by the people. Sometimes dolmen are found near the sacred inclosures, but never within the same, as the sanctuary must not be desecrated by the blood of the victims.
Cromlechs have also been found in Germany. One of them situated near Helmstadt, in Brunswick, is very remarkable. It has in the centre a men-hir standing between two triliths, which arrangement seems to corroborate the view that the triliths were merely dedicatory, not sacrificial altars, since, as we have seen, dolmen proper never occur within the circle of the inclosure. In Switzerland, where no other Druidical monuments are found, a cromlech occurs in the picturesque district of Hasli.
In England there are two monuments of this kind, but more complicated in character. The more important one is Stonehenge, in Wiltshire. It consists of a double inclosure of upright stones about 28 feet high and 7 feet broad. These stones are rudely hewn into quadrangular form, and surmounted by a kind of architrave of more carefully wrought stones mortised on their supports. The outer circle is about 190 feet in diameter. Within the double inclosure are two others of elliptical form, open on one side and containing each a men-hir standing alone in the centre. There can be no doubt that the group was a cromlech dedicated to some powerful deity, although some archæologists designate it as the ruin of some substructure.
It will be proper to insert here, before passing to the period of the Middle Ages, some remarks on the architecture of China and America, neither of which can be grouped in any of the chronological periods of architecture, the former having had no ancient, and the latter having no modern architecture of its own, as will appear from our sketch of the monuments of these countries.
China is essentially the country of stagnation. Hundreds of inventions, made by other people in later centuries, have been known to the Chinese often for thousands of years; but at a certain point of development their progress has been arrested, and they have been gradually distanced by the development of the rest of the world so as now to be very far behind the general civilization. Their architecture of the present day is exactly what it has been time out of mind, and this suggested the foregoing remark that they had no ancient architecture, as it is identical with the modern in every characteristic. The great Chinese wall bears witness to the early progress of art in China, whilst at the same time, in a measure, it is the cause of its arrest, since it is a barrier against the introduction of foreign improvement as well as against the diffusion of the valuable part of Chinese knowledge through the rest of the world. For the description of this wall we refer to the division of this work devoted to military sciences, where it has been treated of under the head of Fortification. It was commenced about 270 years b. c., and shows in its gates the construction of regular semicircular vaults made of wedge-shaped stones carefully jointed. Much of it is executed in bound masonry, and this kind of construction is also found in the walls of cities in the interior, and in the palaces of the grandees, whilst the great mass of the buildings in the country are chiefly made of sun-dried bricks or of bamboo cane. With regard to the shape of the Chinese buildings, they have with characteristic stability preserved the tent form of the nomadic ages, which is met with in all descriptions of edifices: temples, palaces, and common dwellings.
VII. Plate 25: Traditional Chinese Architecture
The combination of framework in China is very simple. The ridge of the roof rests generally only on a couple of posts overtopped by a beam which supports other posts with a cross-beam, this arrangement being repeated until the requisite height is attained. Bamboo canes bent into the curve of the tent, recurved below, supply the place of rafters, and are connected by their cross-laths, which support the light glazed tiles. The latter are grey for common dwellings, green for princely residences, and yellow for the edifices of the emperor. The corners and ridges of the buildings are adorned partly with large foliated decorations, in part with fabulous animals among which the dragon is most prominent. Similar ornaments are placed on the ends of the architraves where they pierce through the wooden columns (pl. 25, figs. 6, 7). Under the entablature and between the columns there are generally trellised friezes (figs. 14, 15, showing at the same time the form of the roofs with the pavilions usually placed on the same). The gaudiest colors are used in the decorations of all buildings, especially green and gold. Yellow paint occurs only on imperial buildings, this color being interdicted to all but the emperor.
The ground plan of the buildings (figs. 1, 2) is generally so arranged that the street fronts are occupied by shops. Next follow the rooms of the family, mostly spacious halls, the Chinese being of a very sociable disposition, especially the female sex. The houses have no windows to the street, but always several large courts in the interior similar to those of the ancient Greek and Roman buildings, with which the Chinese structures have many surprising affinities in point of arrangement. The houses are generally inhabited by only one family, and are mostly only one story high. If there is a second story, it is placed some distance back from the front and has a piazza with columns before it, and a richly carved wooden railing like those represented in figs. 8–11. The columns placed in the yards, as well as those that support the far projecting roofs, have no reduction. Their bases are more or less ornamental (figs. 5–7), but they have no capitals, their tops being concealed in the roof. Fig. 3 gives the elevation, and fig. 4 the section of a Chinese house which exhibits the curious circular doors used even in the interior of the houses. The windows are generally fancifrilly carved and rather small (fig. 13). The walls have frequently trellis work, which assists in ventilation, thus counterbalancing the smallness of the windows. The ceilings are panelled (fig. 12) and gaudily painted and gilded.
Fig. 16 gives a view of the rich dwelling of a mandarin. It is situated in Tong-Chow, and known as the Pavilion of the Star of Hope. It consists of three distinct buildings of magnificent workmanship, two of which are entirely open halls lying in front of the house, and forming, as it were, porticoes to the same. The roofs are all of different shapes and tastefully carved. The whole is surrounded by rich terraces and gardens. The interior corresponds in magnificence with the exterior, and is especially rich in carved and inlaid work. It is divided into two parts by a corridor filled with beautiful flowers and separating the rooms of the owner from. those of the women. All sleeping rooms are in the upper story, which opens upon a terrace surrounded with a carved railing also decorated with flowers. The effect of the villa and its grounds is said to be truly enchanting.
Of public buildings the pagodas deserve special notice. Fig. 18 gives the ground plan, and fig. 19 the section of the large pagoda at Ho-Nang, the southern part of Canton. It is 572 feet in length by a breadth of 360 feet, and is used as a temple, a market, a tavern, and a hospital. The buildings in the circumference connected by colonnades contain the various apartments used for secular purposes, whilst the three edifices in the centre contain the temple and the dwellings for the priests. In the arrangements of the ground plan affinities to the Greek and still more to the Egyptian style of building are perceptible.
With the exception of Christian churches, which are not tolerated, we find in China temples for the public worship of almost all known religions: for instance of the religion of Confucius, Buddha, Mahomed, of the Hebrews, &c. Exteriorly the different temples are almost all alike, and they vary only in their interior arrangement. Fig. 20 represents the entrance of a magnificent temple of Confucius in Tsing-Hai in the province of Tshe-Kiang. This temple is one of the most frequented. The entrance represented in our figure leads to the sanctuary which, like all similar places in China, serves two purposes, first that of worship, and next of occasional residence for imperial officers or of distinguished travellers who never omit to bestow upon the temple a donation in accordance with their rank or wealth. They also give presents to the priests, as they receive no salaries from the emperor, who only pays the priests of his household, leaving the others to the care of the devout.
One of the most renowned edifices of China is the porcelain tower of the Temple of Gratitude, near the city of Pekin, which was built by order of the emperor Yung-Lo. According to the report of the missionary P. Lecomte it has a substructure of brick forming a large platform, surrounded by a railing of rough marble, and accessible from all sides by flights of ten or twelve steps. The hall serving as temple has a depth of 100 feet, and rests on a plinth of marble one foot thick, and projecting two feet on all sides. The front has several pillars and a gallery; the roof is covered with green tiles. The woodwork in the interior consists of innumerable small pieces joined together without any regular system, which is considered a merit by the Chinese, and is painted. The aspect of the forest of posts, pillar, beams, and ties, is indeed surprising; whilst it is evident that the waste of work originated only in the ignorance of the Chinese of the noble simplicity in construction and decoration which gives our modem buildings their strength and beauty. The principal hall is lighted through the large door on the east side. The tower standing at the side of the hall is octagonal, with a diameter of about 40 feet. Above the first story it has a glazed roof resting on columns, and having an elegant gallery. The whole consists of nine stories, divided by small roofs projecting under the windows about 3 feet, and gradually less towards the top. They have no galleries or columns. The walls of the tower are 12 feet in thickness below, gradually reduced to 8 feet at the top, and are faced with porcelain slabs, which have suffered considerably from rain and dust. The stairs in the interior are narrow and uncomfortable, the steps being very high. The stories are divided by strong beams supporting floors. The tower has thus nine chambers, whose walls are covered with the fantastic painting so characteristic of Chinese art. In the upper stories they have numerous small niches, in which idols are placed, which produce a singular effect. The walls seem to be faced with slabs of burnt clay, with bas-reliefs, and gilded throughout. The first story is higher than the others, which are all alike in height. The steps are 190 in number, each being 10 inches high. The whole height of the tower, including the substructure and the bell-shaped roof of the ninth story, is somewhat over 200 feet. The roof is very ornamental, and pierced by a mast, which commences in the eighth story and projects 30 feet above the top. It is surrounded by an iron spiral, wound at some distance from the wood, and its highest extremity carries a large gilded ball.
This structure is one of the strongest and most ingeniously executed among this kind of edifices, which are found in all parts of China, and known by the name of Ta.
We have stated above that America has no modern architecture of her own. This view is based upon the examination of the monuments of a peculiar kind found in Central America and Mexico, and belonging to a much earlier period than the discovery of America, and probably dating even further back than the Christian era. The buildings erected on this continent at a later period and in our days bear no affinity whatever to the style of those monuments, but belong essentially to the European schools of art, modified to suit the convenience or taste of the builders. The monuments of antiquity must therefore be regarded as the only representatives of American architecture proper, and are therefore the only ones that claim our attention in this place, whilst we shall hereafter have occasion to mention several important edifices erected on this continent in modern times. A few stones with alleged Runic inscriptions found in the northern part of the United States (Rhode Island and Connecticut) have been designated by antiquarians as the remains of buildings erected by the Danes, who had discovered America long before Columbus; but as this allegation is as yet totally without historical proof, and these stones without any architectural interest, they will not come within the province of our sketch.
When, the Spaniards conquered Mexico they found a certain degree of civilization among the aborigines, which was the more surprising as it had been developed by no previous intercourse with other people. The division of labor was found to be carried to an incredible extent in the mechanic and finer arts. The artists as well as the craftsmen finished only a certain part of the work, and beyond its completion they had no knowledge whatever. They supplied by consummate skill and perseverance in their proper spheres the deficiency of their rude tools.
The civil and religious architecture of the aborigines is only known from the descriptions of the conquerors, since the few remains of the same afford too little scope for investigation at the present day. The dwellings of the poor were made of pebbles or sun-dried bricks, and covered by a net on which aloe leaves were fastened like tiles. The houses had only one room; only in the towns some were found that had two rooms and a bathing room.
The dwellings of the more wealthy were of a very porous red freestone laid in mortar, and had flat roofs with terraces. The palaces of the kings and the temples were of similar form, only larger.
The art of architecture had reached a good degree of development among the people of the plateau of Anahuac, and thence spread to the Aztecs, and other tribes with whom the Spaniards came into contact, and whom they found thoroughly acquainted with the arts of erecting perpendicular walls, of dressing stones, and of constructing vaults, whilst their aqueducts which supplied Tenochtitlan with drinking water, their dams, dykes, and highroads, sometimes carried through lakes, bore testimony to their practical skill.
The oldest edifices of which remains are still extant are the two pyramids of San Juan de Teotihuacan, in the valley of Mexico, known by the names of Sun and Moon. They were the prototypes of the great temple of Tenochtitlan. Their tops are accessible by immense flights of stairs of hewn stones, and there are still found fragments of altars which had their places there. These pyramids face the quarters of the heavens, and were formerly surrounded by several hundred smaller ones 90 to 120 feet in height, which were grouped all around the pyramids, and had streets between them leading to the faces of the large pyramids. The smaller pyramids were dedicated to the stars, and probably contained the tombs of the chieftains of the different tribes.
VII. Plate 26: Pre-Columbian Architecture of Central America
About sixty years ago the pyramid of Papantla (pl. 26, fig. 7) was discovered by chance in a dense forest near the pyramids of the Sun and Moon, which covers the slope of the Cordilleras, near the Gulf of Mexico. The aborigines had zealously kept the secret of the location of this pyramid, being very reluctant to discover the objects of their religious worship to the curiosity of the whites. This teocali (temple) is the highest as yet known, and consists of admirably hewn and jointed freestone. The structure, which has seven stories and is accessible by two flights of stairs, is entirely covered with hieroglyphics. In all the stories are found quadrangular niches symmetrically arranged, and numbering in the aggregate, according to Alexander von Humboldt, 318, corresponding with the number of single signs constituting the calendar of the Toltecs.
The most important monument of the district of Anahuac is, however, the pyramid of Cholula, situated on a plateau 6700 feet above the level of the sea, and facing exactly the four quarters of the heavens. Its summit is accessible from all four sides, and its general arrangements have many affinities to those of the Egyptian pyramids. It is nine feet higher than the pyramid of Gizeh, and nearly twice as high as that of Cheops. It contained spacious vaults which served as burial-places, and on its platform, which measured 1050 square feet, stood in the times of the Aztecs an altar dedicated to the air, which the Spaniards replaced by the church Nuestra Dama de los Remedios, probably occupying a higher site than any other church.
A very curious monument is a temple at Xochicalco, near the town of Quernavaca, which is at the same time a kind of fortress (fig. 2). It consists of a natural rock, 360 feet high, wrought by hand into a tolerably accurate pyramidal shape, and smTOunded by a ditch, thus forming a redoubt, or a fortified temple. Its summit has an area of about 2500 square feet, and is surrounded by a wall for the protection of the defenders. The regularity of the construction of this wall of porphyry is highly spoken of by travellers, as well as the clearness of the bas-reliefs which decorate it. Among the figures represented in the latter are crocodiles, and, what is very curious, human figures in the sitting posture of the East with crossed legs. Each figure covers several stones whose joints are so carefully closed as not to disturb the surfaces of the sculptures in the least.
The question whether there is any connexion between the Mexican pyramids and those of Egypt has not yet been decided. It is characteristic in the former that they always appear as huge substructures for temples or altars. The latter were always placed in the highest possible spots by the Mexicans, and where they did not find natural rocks in which they could cut stairs to gain access to the summit, they constructed artificial pyramids.
Traces of a well developed ancient architecture are also found in the district of Tlascala, situated between the territories of Mexico, Cholula, and Huexotzinco. The aborigines of this district had surrounded their capital with walls, and erected a thoroughly fortified camp, for which the nature of the ground afforded the best facilities. Its western extremity was closed by a deep ditch and high walls. On the eastern side was a wall of twenty-five miles in length, whilst the northern side was effectively protected by a number of strong positions in the chain of the Cordilleras. Within this inclosure the people asserted their independence from Mexico and worshipped the sun, whilst all around them a sanguinary worship had already been introduced. Fig. 1 gives the view of a bridge across the ditch which lay in the line of defence, from which it appears that the Tlascalans had only an imperfect knowledge of the art of constructing vaults, and that their method of construction was similar to that of the Cyclopean walls, which is the primitive architecture of all nations.
Among the oldest architectural remains of Mexico are the two pyramids of Teotihuacan (fig. 3) and of Tuzapan (fig. 6). In the neighborhood of these were twenty other such temples, of which but few traces are left. The former is erected on a quadrangular artificial rock with flights of stairs on all sides leading to the Cyclopean substructure of twelve steps which supported the temple proper. In the latter was found an idol of bronze; another of a large emerald, representing the god of war of the aborigines; and an image of the sun wrought of gold with rays of mother of pearl, with its mouth open and set with human teeth. On the platform were found several other idols made partly of jasper or porphyry, in part of wood, plaster, or colored stones. The second temple (fig. 6) was larger and higher than the former, and its pyramid constructed with great regularity of blocks of freestone. It was approached by only one flight of stairs remarkable for having distinct cheeks. In the sanctuary of this temple, which had an elaborate front, Don Martin d' Urfua found, in the year 1697, a bag suspended from a rope and containing bones. On his inquiry about them he was told that these were the bones of the favorite horse of Cortez, who, when returning to Mexico, after receiving the oath of allegiance of the inhabitants, had left his sick favorite to the care of the king of the tribe. The horse died, and the Indians, who feared that on the return of Cortez they would be held responsible for this calamity, made the bones of the horse the object of religious worship.
Another temple was dedicated to the king and his descendants, and its pyramid served as a burial-place for the latter. There were other temples, one of which belonged to the priests, the others to private individuals.
A description of the palace of Utatlan will give an idea of the arrangement of the royal residences as found by the Spaniards in Guatemala. It betrays a degree of civilization which would be incredible but for the unanimous testimony of eye-witnesses. The city of Utatlan lay on a plateau, whose declivities formed a natural ditch around the whole of its precincts, and it was only accessible by two narrow ways. In the centre of the city was the residence of the king surrounded by the palaces of the great. The number of inhabitants was so considerable that the king could oppose 72,000 warriors to the Spaniards. Among the edifices of the city, the seminary was remarkable, in which 6000 youths were lodged, clothed, and educated at the expense of the state by sixty teachers appointed for the purpose. The city was defended by two large royal castles capable of accommodating large garrisons, and by the residential palace, which was more magnificent than the one of Montezuma in Tenochtitlan, and that of the Inca of Cuzco. Its front lay due east and west, and was 376 steps in length, whilst both sides had 728 steps in depth. It was built of stones of various colors, and exhibited beautiful proportions. The interior was divided into seven subdivisions. The first was occupied by the body-guards of the king, consisting of archers and lancers. The second afforded residences to the princes and relatives of the king, who were there sumptuously provided for as long as they remained unmarried. The third division was the residence of the king himself, which also contained the state treasury, the arsenal, and the offices of state. The fourth and fifth divisions were occupied by the wives of the king, every one having her own apartments, baths, garden, and every imaginable comfort. The sixth and seventh divisions were allotted respectively to the royal princes and princesses. No palace of modem times in any civilized country would bear a comparison with the sumptuous magnificence of this residence of the king of a comparatively savage nation.
Near Chiapas, on the frontier of Yucatan, the ruins of Palenque are of especial interest. The ruins of the palace, of which several walls are still standing, are not the only ones found there, but there are also ruins of a number of private houses from which the ground plan and interior arrangement of such buildings with these people can be seen, their extreme age notwithstanding. The disposition of the plans to these buildings, the sculptures, the painting, of which sufficient remains are left for investigation, and the grand forms and proportions exhibited throughout, force upon the beholder the conviction that these people were deficient neither in civilization nor in practical skill.
Of equal interest with the ruins of Palenque are those of Uxmal in Yucatan. They are the remains of a city which was once 16 miles in circumference, and are in better preservation than the ruins of Palenque. The name of this city cannot be given with certainty. It is supposed, however, to be the ancient Majapan. Among its ruins is one called the Dwarf's House, situated on the platform of a pyramid 224 feet in length and 120 feet broad, and containing three rooms. Its exterior is entirely covered with sculptures, which are both tastefully grouped and skilfully executed. Among the decorations are leopards' heads, foliated work, and a variety of rich panels; and the joints of the masonry are so admirably fitted that they in no instance mar the effect of the sculptures, although the figures often extend over four or five stones, the building being erected, like all American monuments, of much smaller blocks than were employed by the Egyptians in their edifices.
Another building is said to have been the residence of the virgins of the sun, and is therefore even now termed the House of the Nuns. It is situated on an artificial substructure 15 feet in height, and occupies a plot of ground 80 feet square. The principal entrance is wide, and leads into a spacious court. The walls of the buildings, both exteriorly and interiorly, are covered with sculptures, the interior being, however, much the richer in decoration. Fig. 8 shows part of the front facing the court, and exhibits the proportions of the cornices which were introduced in American architecture. The lower part of the front is smooth, the upper very rich in well executed sculptures, among which are full length figures drawn with, ease and well proportioned. The middle of the front has two colossal intertwined serpents, whose heads rest on the centre cornice, and which have caused the occasional designation of the building as the Temple of the Two Serpents.
The house of the Tortoise probably destroyed by an earthquake, and the House of the Pigeons, the one named from its shape, the other from numerous recesses in the front, deserve a passing notice, on account of the quaintness of their exterior, whilst their details are uninteresting.
The most important among the ruins is that of the residence of the sovereign, besides being in the best state of preservation. It stands on two pyramids placed one upon the other. The lower one is 600 steps in length and breadth, and has a platform planted with trees, and having several buildings on it. At the south-east corner of this platform there is a row of 18 small cylindrical pillars, occupying a space of about 100 feet in length. They are about 4 feet in height, by 18 inches in diameter, and their form seems to indicate that columns were not unknown to the people of those countries. On this platform rises the pyramid represented fig. 4, on whose summit is the edifice termed the House of the Ruler, which is much in the same condition in which it was left by its former occupants. It is entirely of stone, without any ornament up to the main cornice. The latter, however, is decorated with surpassing richness, as may be inferred from our fig. 5, which represents the corner of the same, whilst fig. 5b gives the figure contained in the ornament on a somewhat larger scale. The proportions of this building exhibit a degree of symmetrical grandeur so thoroughly in accordance with the strictest rules of art, that it becomes difficult to credit that this is the work of a nation to whom the greatest ignorance in matters of art is usually attributed. Intelligent and veracious travellers class the ruins of Uxmal with the very best monuments of Egypt. A remarkable circumstance in the House of the Ruler is the fact, that whilst the whole structure is of stone, all the lintels are of iron wood 8 to 9 feet long, 18 to 20 inches broad, and 12 to 14 feet thick, and that they have been burdened unhesitatingly with the weight of a wall 12 to 16 feet high, and 4 feet thick. The only probable explanation of this circumstance is, that the wood has been introduced as a great curiosity of immense costliness, owing to its scarcity, and the difficulty attending its transportation to the spot. The floors and ceilings are constructed of quadrangular stone slabs. No trace of arching is found, and the interior of the rooms is entirely without decoration. An ornament often repeated in the sculptures of the cornice is a death's head, with large extended wings and projecting teeth (fig. 5, top). It is two feet broad, and anchored in the wall. Another prominent feature of the cornice is the mosaic-like sculpture visible at a (fig. 5), whose effect is very pleasing.
The opinions as to the period when these monuments were probably erected vary greatly. Lord Kingsborough dates the civilization of Central America from an alleged migration of the Jews before the Egyptian captivity. Dupaix holds the American monuments to be antediluvian. Stephens considers them to be of comparatively recent date, that is to say, little before the Christian era. Waldeck, however, is of opinion that the civilization of Guatemala which called forth these monuments is much more remote than the settlement of the Aztecs in Anahuac, and, indeed, the oldest traditions of the aborigines make mention of these structures, which therefore perhaps may be contemporary with those of Egypt.
The Architecture of the Middle Ages
In the history of the arts the middle ages comprise the period which begins with the introduction of the Christian religion, and ends with the second decline of art, or with the time when architecture had sunk so far below the point of development to which it had risen in the 13th and 14th centuries, that in the 16th century a complete regeneration of art (renaissance) became necessary, in order to reestablish in the features of architecture a pure taste, which would make the buildings expressive of a revived sense of beauty. This period may conveniently be divided into two sections, the first embracing the time from Constantine the Great down to the 11th century; the second from that date down to the 16th century. We will introduce our descriptions of the prominent buildings of both sections by short historical sketches, tracing the progress of art in each.
The Period from Constantine the Great to the 11th Century
The first Christians, it is well known, were the objects of the most violent persecutions, and accordingly held their religious meetings clandestinely, in the catacombs and similar secluded places, or they made places of worship of grottoes, which they widened or lined with walls. These subterranean churches were termed crypts. Constantine gave countenance to the new religion by embracing it himself, and henceforth it was publicly professed, and consequently a new era in architecture commenced, that of the Christian churches. At first it was very much under the influence of Roman architecture, which had already declined considerably. This was especially the case with that branch of the art which prevailed in the western part of the empire, Italy, Germany, France, &c., which was termed the style of the basilicas, or Latin or Romanesque architecture. The other branch originated in Constantinople, from the more oriental development of the Roman style, and was that peculiar and characteristic style known as the modern Greek or the Byzantine architecture. We shall examine the peculiarities of both these styles, adducing some prominent buildings of each as examples.
The Romanesque Style
Having already stated the origin of the basilicas and the changes in their form and use since their introduction into Italy, from Greece, it remains for us now to examine the details a little more closely, showing at the same time how the heathen structures were adapted to the Christian worship.
VII. Plate 27: Early Christian Architecture
1. The Ground Plan. Great irregularity prevailed for a long time with regard to the plans of basilicas. Constantine erected in Rome, Constantinople, and in Palestine, basilicas of all forms, round, polygonal, rectangular. An example of the last form is the church of St. Marcelline in Rome (pl. [27], fig. 1). Sometimes the plans showed a combination of several figures. There are several examples of quadrangular basilicas with perfectly circular sanctuaries attached, for instance St. Martin's church in Tours (fig. 2), built by Perpetuus. When the rites of the Christian worship had been established, the rectangle was found the most convenient form for the basilica and was generally adopted in the west. It is shown in the ground plan of the basilica Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome (fig. 6). The side aisles were reserved for female worshippers, and were made accessible by special doors in front, placed at the sides of the main entrance leading to the principal nave, which ended in a semicircular choir similar to the tribunal of the heathen basilica. Behind the altar was a bench for the priests. In some basilicas similar choirs were attached to the side aisles, for instance in the church of Parenzo in Istria (fig. 3). The side choirs were closed by drapery, and served as receptacles for the vessels and books of the church. By degrees they were made of larger dimensions and became the treasuries and libraries of the churches.
Although this form of the basilicas answered all practical purposes, further changes were made in the course of time from various motives. First the sanctuary was separated from the rest of the church by a wall, parallel to which another was laid near the middle of the church. This was the first germ of the transepts and of the cross form which prevailed in the plans of churches for the succeeding centuries. It is illustrated by the plan of St. Paul's before the walls of Rome (fig. 4). The cross walls were interrupted by wide arches affording a free communication between all parts of the building. The church had in front a vestibule with columns, where the congregation assembled before the ceremonies, and where penitents and sinners waited the permission of entering the church. Such vestibules were also attached to the circular basilicas as in St. Stephen's in Rome (fig. 15).
The earliest Christian churches, especially those built by Constantine in Rome, had their entrance on the east side, the altar at the western extremity, the officiating priest looking towards the east when turned to the congregation. This arrangement was afterwards exactly reversed, and all the churches almost without any exception have their entrances at the western end, and the altar at the eastern.
2. The Elevation. The first churches had mostly the outward appearance of the Roman buildings of the age, and were probably very simply decorated. Afterwards they were adorned with mosaic work, gilding, marble fronts, and excellent sculptures. The outer wall of the central nave was usually carried much higher than the side aisles, and supported a gable roof with a rather simple cornice. The sides of the roof rested on the side walls with windows, through which the principal nave was lighted. In the gable was a circular opening, the eye, for admitting air under the roof. The place of the eye was afterwards taken up by mosaic work introduced in the gables. Sometimes there was no gable, the slope of the roof being laid in front, as in the church San Lorenzo before Rome (fig. 9). The gable form is shown in the view of St. Agnes' basilica near Rome (fig. 14).
The principal front below the gable or sloping roof was mostly decorated with mosaic compositions representing Christ, the Holy Virgin, the Apostles, and even entire miracles. The front wall in the vestibule was subdivided by the main and side entrances, and its face also decorated with mosaic or painting.
The vestibule of the Romanesque church is a kind of portico, extending before the entire width of the front, and resting on columns, with antique bases, and shafts either smooth or with very narrow spiral flutings. The capitals are either Ionic or Corinthian, but vary occasionally from the original forms of those orders. The capitals are connected in pairs by architraves supporting a continuous frieze and cornice, the former often decorated with a mosaic of differently shaded marble, red and green porphyry, &c., whilst the latter is too gaudily set with modillions and foliation in a poor style. The vestibule has a straight slanting roof resting with its lower side on the cornice, whilst the upper is lodged in the wall of the basilica. The doors leading into the naves have generally very rich frames relieving materially the paintings on the walls between them. Sometimes a narrow portico supplies the place of the vestibule, as in St. Clement's basilica in Rome (fig. 17), when the door leading into the interior is always of surpassing splendor. In some basilicas there is neither this portico nor the vestibule which we have described, but a cross wall at a short distance from the front wall cuts off a piece of the interior, thus forming a species of inner vestibule which communicates with the main and side naves by three openings closed only with drapery.
The side fronts of most Romanesque basilicas offer few interesting points except the manner of construction, the roofs of the side aisles, and their connexion with the transept (fig. 16). The sides of the basilicas have usually a row of windows, with round arches above. In southern countries the place of windows is often supplied in the frames by thin slabs of marble pierced with circular or lozenge-shaped holes closed with glass (figs. 12, 13).
The rear view of the basilica (fig. 18) exhibits usually one or more semicircular attached buildings, the inclosures of the choirs. The central is always the largest, and has richer cornices. Windows occur but very rarely in the choirs. If the basilica has no transept the rear wall is profiled like the front, but if it is a cross basilica the roof line of the side aisles is horizontal (pl. [27], fig. 24). The semicircular choirs have conical roofs attached to the rear wall of the basilica.
3. The Interior. The oldest Christian basilicas had naves of different sizes, separated by two or four rows of columns parallel to the side walls. They were for a long time close imitations of the Roman heathen basilicas. In some the straight architrave is supplanted by arches, in others combined with them. In the latter case the side aisles have two stories, the upper one being formed by a gallery, as in that of San Lorenzo in Rome (fig. 10). This gallery was reserved for women, and had its own entrance from outside the basilica. Above were the windows through which the church was lighted. Towards the choir the walls had arched openings (fig. 11). The round wall of the choir being lower than the nave ample room was afforded in the straight rear wall for mosaic and paintings. The side walls above the galleries were also decorated in this manner. The floors were inlaid with stone plates of various colors, and an excellent effect was attained by grouping the marble, granite, and porphyry plates in rich patterns.
The roof of the basilica was of simple, double, or triple suspension framework, according to the size of the main nave, and often without wainscoting, so that the rafters were visible in the interior. They were therefore painted with great elegance.
The altar in the oldest basilicas was of the shape of a quadrangular sarcophagus, emblematic of the holy sepulchre. The attributes of Christianity, the alpha and omega, labarum, palm tree, cross, &c., were among the decorative sculptures of the altar. In basilicas dedicated to sainted martyrs their remains were deposited in the altars, which also received a niche in which a relic of the martyr was placed.
Sometimes subterranean chapels were constructed under the altars, and adorned with the richest embellishments. They were approached by steps from the interior of the basilica. At the four corners of the altar stood columns which supported an entablature and ceiling, forming a canopy over the altar. This canopy was termed ciborium. Pl. 27, fig. 19, shows that in the basilica San-Clemente in Rome, and under it the entrance to the subterranean chapel.
The part of the basilica lying in front of the sanctuary was set apart by low partitions of richly carved wood or marble, and sometimes raised several steps above the level of the naves. This was the choir, or high choir, which had benches of wood or marble, and a pulpit. Fig. 20 represents the high choir of San Clemente.
In some of the basilicas there is erected a small distinct building dedicated to the ceremony of baptism, and termed baptistery; more frequently, however, these buildings were erected in front of the main entrances of basilicas. They were of various forms (figs. 21–24). They contained in the centre a deep basin or pool, usually corresponding in form with the ground plan of the building, and the baptismal rite was performed by immersion, amid invocations of St. John the Baptist. Subterranean conduits supplied and drained the pool. Sometimes it was surrounded with columns, which supported the ceiling, as in that of St. Agnes in Rome (fig. 29). Afterwards the baptisteries were united with the basilicas themselves, and then occupied the head of the side aisle, set apart by a railing and a portico, as in the basilica in Cividale, of whose baptistery fig. 28 gives a view. The ceremony of total immersion ceased after the baptistery had become part of the church proper. Baptismal fonts were then introduced, of which figs. 25–27 give the most usual forms. They were large enough for several persons to be baptized standing at the same time. The smaller baptismal fonts were not introduced until several hundred years later, when immersion had been altogether set aside.
4. Description of some Romanesque Basilicas. The oldest basilica built by Constantine in Rome is St. John Lateran. It had the Roman form and four rows of antique columns in the interior. These beautiful Ionic columns have disappeared under casings of pilasters made in the eighteenth century by Borronini, who also marred the noble simplicity of the building by introducing a number of inferior ornaments, gables and the like. The valuable Romanesque structure was thus changed into a church in the most corrupt Italian style.
The church of St. Clement, whose portico (fig. 17), ciborium (fig. 19), and choir (fig. 20), we have noticed, is located on the way from the Coliseum to the Lateran. It is remarkable for having still the original arrangements given to it when it was erected in the fourth century. In front of it is a quadrangular court surrounded by colonnades with cross-vaulted ceilings. The court contains sixteen Ionic granite columns and four pillars. The church has three aisles separated by two rows of antique columns connected by arches and by two pillars. The semicircular ends of the side aisles form chapels, one of which is decorated with paintings by Masaccio. The centre terminates with the semicircular sanctuary containing the altar and seats for the bishop and priests. The ground plan of the church is simple. The aisles are different in width, which is not in strict accordance with good taste. Nevertheless the effect of the church is very good in spite of the dissimilarity of the capitals; and the only real disturbance of the symmetry arises from the two unsightly pillars introduced by Fontana in the seventeenth century. The floors are in mosaic of various kinds of marble, and the walls have beautiful fresco paintings.
St. Paul's basilica before Rome, on the way to Ostia, is among the finest and largest churches in the Romanesque style (fig. 4, plan; fig. 30, perspective view of part of the cloister). It was erected in the years 386–395, and has no court like St. Clement's. It has five aisles formed by four rows of twenty Corinthian columns. Those of the two middle rows are fluted and from 31 feet, 9 inches, to 32 feet, 4\(\frac{3}{4}\) inches high, by diameters from 3 feet 3 to 3 feet 4 inches; the columns in the outer rows are smooth and 27 feet high. The intercolumniations are of three diameters, and the columns formerly belonged to some ancient monuments, probably the mausoleum of Hadrian. A few of them only are newer. The inequality of the heights is counterbalanced by unequal cubes. The columns of each row are connected by arches on which rests a wall with round-arched windows, those of the centre row being placed higher than those of the sides. The fresco paintings of the square panels under the windows have been destroyed by damp. The transept is nearly at the end of the church, and is divided into two parts by Ionic columns and pillars with small altars in front. The main altar is in the semicircular sanctuary. The interior, which was consumed by fire about twenty years ago, was of admirable effect, and the method of lighting it was excellent. It was based upon the Egyptian plan (pl. 6, fig. 7) of admitting the light through an aperture over the door. The cloister (fig. 30) is almost square, being 121 feet by 101. It has several doors to the court and fine arcades placed on low walls with well profiled cornices. The long sides are divided into five, the short into four sections, by pilasters serving as supports for the cross-vault ceilings of the divisions. Between every two pillars are five pairs of small columns standing behind each other and connected by semicircular arches which are surmounted by the main cornice. The columns have Corinthian capitals; the two shafts nearest the pillars are smooth, the two next ornamental in various ways, and the centre pair have twisted or braided shafts.
VII. Plate 30: Byzantine and Early Romanesque Architecture
A remarkable basilica was St. Peter's, built in 326 by order of Constantine on the spot now occupied by the new St. Peter's, and destroyed in the sixteenth century (pl. 27, fig. 5, ground plan; pl. 30, fig. 1, section through the court with the front elevation; fig. 2, lateral section). The ground plan is in the shape of a Latin cross, and the building lay in the rear of a large court surrounded by columns and pillars forming covered colonnades. The church had five naves, each with its own entrance from the colonnade. The rows of columns inclosing the main nave were 33 feet in height, by 3 feet, 4 inches in diameter; those of the side aisles were 27 feet, 4 inches high, and 2 feet, 10 inches thick. The rear wall was interrupted by the semicircular sanctuary with the main altar. One end of the transept served as library, the other as depository for the sacred vessels. The length of the church, excluding the sanctuary, was 287 feet; with it, 321 feet. The centre aisle was 75 feet wide, the side aisles 30 feet, and the outer aisles 26 feet; the transept was 265 feet in length. The interior contained ninety-two columns, probably all from the mausoleum of Hadrian. The two rows of columns in the centre had straight architraves on which stood walls with windows 8 feet, 8 inches high, by 7 feet, 6 inches wide, and arched above in a full semicircle. The heights of the various naves were 88\(\frac{1}{2}\) feet for the centre, 53 feet for the sides, and 43 feet for the outer aisles. The roof of the centre aisles was covered with gilded Corinthian bronze, those of the side aisles with tiles. The ceiling over the choir was arched and decorated with mosaic and painting. The other ceilings were of inlaid woodwork or wainscoting, and were first repaired in 602. The principal entrance had bronze doors from the temple of Salomo. The gable front of the church was decorated with mosaic in 827. Pope Anacletes II. despoiled the basilica of its treasures in 1130, and it was finally taken down in 1503, under the superintendence of Bramante.
The basilica San Lorenzo, before the gates of Rome, on the Tiburtine way (pl. 27, fig. 8, plan; fig. 9, elevation; fig. 10, longitudinal section of the choir; fig. 11, lateral section; figs. 12, 13, windows), was erected under Constantine, whilst the choir was added by Pope Hadrian, 772–791. This choir was enlarged in 1475, by Posalini, by order of Pope Sixtus IV. The entire building comprises the fore court, the principal and side aisles, the choir with two side aisles, and the sanctuary with the altar. The main nave has two rows of eleven granite columns of the Ionic order, surrounded by a straight architrave and cornice which supports a second tier of columns, connected by arches which are surmounted by the wall with the windows. The lower columns are smooth, and were very probably taken from the ancient portico of Octavia. They are among the finest in Rome; their reduction is in a straight line from base to capital, both of which are very carefully wrought. The sides of the high choir have each five antique Corinthian columns fluted and of exquisite workmanship. Their capitals are connected by fragments of ancient architraves, friezes, and cornices, carefully grouped into a new entablature which is surmounted by five thin Corinthian columns with arches and wall like those of the main nave. The ceilings of the basilica are flat and decorated in a rich style; that of the semicircular sanctuary is conically arched. The altar has at its comers four smooth Corinthian porphyry columns with a frieze and cornice supporting a dome. The portico in front of the basilica has light Ionic columns, spirally fluted.
The church of St. Agnes was also built during the reign of Constantine, and is situated before the gates of Rome (fig. 14, view; pl. 30, fig. 24, plan; pl. 46, fig. 16, plan, including the new chapels). In the principal nave it has two tiers of antique columns, seven in each row, the upper ones forming galleries. The columns have different heights and unequal bases, and are connected by arches. Two of the columns have ropelike flutings, 140 in number, and probably date from the fourth century. The comparison of the old and new plans will show that no alterations have been made in this basilica save the addition of the chapels.
The basilica Santa Maria Maggiore (pl. 27, fig. 6, plan) was built in 352, probably with materials taken from the temple of Juno Lacinia. It was modernized, though to little advantage, by Cosmo, Pietro di Cortona, and Rainaldi, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The interior has two rows of eighteen antique Ionic columns connected by an entablature with two large consoles. The altar had four columns around it, two of which have been removed by one of the restorers in order to attain a large opening, which is arched and interrupts the entablature, the arch resting on two coupled columns on either side. Behind these are pilasters, supporting others whose capitals are connected by arches. The wooden panelled ceiling rests on the entablature of the upper Corinthian pilaster. The choir terminates in a pentagon, and is arched above. The front is very deficient in taste, and dates from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
The church of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem (fig. 7, plan) was erected in the fourth century as a Christian basilica, restored in 1144, and finally spoiled by Gregori in the seventeenth century, who caused the beautiful Ionic columns to be cased in pilasters. The portico of this basilica has eight columns from which three doors, a, b, a, lead into the court c, which is flanked by colonnades. Three doors lead from this court into a hall, d, behind which lies the baptistery with columns on three sides, and in the centre the font, e. The fourth side is occupied by three doors leading into the basilica, f, which has five naves, the principal one ending in a semicircular sanctuary lined with small columns and containing the altar, g.
The basilica St. Saba, before St. Paul's gate in Rome, was erected in the fourth century (pl. 33, fig. 21, plan; fig. 22, plan of the choir, showing the stairs to the altar; fig. 23, front view; fig. 24, rear view; figs. 25, 26, details from the mosaics of the principal entrance). The three naves of the church are of equal height, being formed by two tiers of seven columns, the lower ones supporting galleries over the side aisles. Two of the twenty-eight columns are of black, two of red porphyry, the rest of Parian marble; all antique. The portico was added in 770; its decorations and materials are also antique. The story over the portico, which is very much out of place, is of later date. The sanctuary and the two chapels, containing the library and the sacred vessels, are semicircular and roofed with tiles.
The basilica Bibiana, erected in 365, has been modernized, and thereby despoiled of its characteristics, by Bernini. Its ground plan is given in pl. 46, fig. 15. It contained sixteen columns, arranged in two rows and two tiers.
The plan of the basilica, which was changed into the church San Cosmo e Damiano (fig. 18), is curious for the division of the side aisles into small chapels by pilasters and columns. Fig. 17 gives the plan of the Roman Basilica Julia, now San Grisogno, remarkable for a pure Doric portico of four columns.
The basilica erected by bishop Famfili in Tyre, in the fourth century, resembles that of San Cosmo, in having chambers or chapels in the side aisles (pl. 30, fig. 25, plan), but is unique in. having a court all round. It is contemporary with a Latin basilica near Athens, the ruins of which we have given in front and rear views in figs. 10 and 11.
Byzantine Style
VII. Plate 28: Byzantine Architecture
The Eastern churches were mostly of a square, round, or polygonal form. Of the latter form a beautiful example is found in St. Vital's church in Ravenna (pl. 29, fig. 1). The characteristic difference between the Byzantine and the Romanesque styles is that the former always had a cupola, whilst the latter, even the buildings whose form was round, had flat roofs of carpentry. The type of the Byzantine style is given in the plan of St. Sophia's church in Constantinople (fig. 18), constructed by Isidorus of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles, by order of the emperor Justinian. It has many oriental characteristics which were copied in all the later buildings of this school, both in the East and in Italy, Germany, and France. The proof that St. Sophia's church is the prototype of the Byzantine ground plan is found in the various plans of other churches, of which we enumerate the church of Navarino in Greece (pl. 30, fig. 12), Panhagia Nicodimo in Athens (pl. 28, fig. 1), and the Catholicon or the Cathedral of Athens (pl. 29, fig. 9). Others will be adduced hereafter.
Before passing to the description of Byzantine fronts we must mention some peculiarities of this style. In it freestone and bricks are often used together, the latter laid both in horizontal and in vertical lines, so as to form frames round panels of freestone. Great variety of decoration is attained in this manner, enhanced by the application of moulded, curved, and Y-shaped bricks. Another peculiarity of this style is, that the slope of the roof seldom appears to view, the top of the building being generally a straight line, surmounted by a cupola over the central rotunda, and sometimes by smaller domes at the sides, marking the points of connexion between the vestibule and the side aisles in large buildings. A curious Byzantine edifice is the church of Samara in Greece (pl. 28, fig. 2).
The large Byzantine cupolas rest either on cylindrical substructures or on the roof itself, and have numerous circular openings or windows through which the spherical vaults are lighted. The tiles are generally flat like the Roman, and joined in the Grecian manner, by semi-cylinders placed on the joint ridges, but the ~-shaped tiles are also met with overlapping each other, and therefore without the peculiar Grecian semi-cylinders. The domes are frequently covered with lead plates. The gallery usually found in the first story of Byzantine churches is indicated exteriorly by a row of windows, or by small arcades. This arrangement was also adopted in the pointed-arch style of architecture when it superseded the Byzantine. The Byzantine semicircular arches over the windows are either entirely of brick, or of brick and freestone in alternate wedges. The doors are usually set in thin stone or marble frames with cornices. Arches constructed over the lintels serve to relieve the latter of the weight of the upper wall. They are sometimes of horse-shoe form instead of semicircular. The mouldings of the lintel cornice are peculiar, consisting of a socle of considerable projection over a projecting quirked moulding (apoothesis) followed by an astragal with two very narrow socles, and finally a broad stripe. Below this is a rectangular deep recess with an astragal running round the door opening. Pl. 30, fig. 16, exhibits this bold profile, which was the prototype of the similar one applied in the pointed arch style.
The side fronts of the Byzantine churches are almost exactly like those of the Romanesque. Projecting entrances frequently mark the extremities of the transepts, as in St. Mcodemus' church in Athens (fig. 13). The rear wall, which is horizontally closed above, is interrupted by one or three sanctuaries which are either round or quadrangular, and have one or two rows of niches, in newer buildings superseded by windows. The latter are either simple or coupled, when they are called twin windows. The window arches rest on small columns placed at the salient angles of the window recesses, as in the choir of St. Theotokus in Constantinople (fig. 14). The vestibule in Byzantine buildings is always arched, sometimes with a dome as indicated in the ground plan (fig. 12), and framework is never visible in the ceiling. The vestibule is not very deep, but occupies the full width of the church, and is usually decorated with paintings or mosaic work. One or more doors of similar construction with the main entrance lead into the church proper. The rear wall of the vestibule has sometimes, besides these doors, windows, placed there for the better airing of the church, with window-sills formed of highly sculptured marble slabs. The interior has one or more domes decorated with paintings and mosaic. The principal one is over the point of intersection of the main nave and transept, and is never wanting. If there are more than one, the second and third, of smaller size, are placed over the arms of the transept, the fourth over the sanctuary, and the fifth over the front part of the main nave. The parts of the church that are left without cupolas receive cross-vault ceilings instead. The weight of the cupola is sustained by four comer pillars, being divided between them by ribs of vaults ascending from their cornices to the pendentive or lower circumference of the dome, which they support. This construction was invented by the Byzantians. It is either simple, forming a warped surface of twofold curvature; or hollow, like the upper part of a niche, the curve being that of a cone; or finally, complicated, being composed of a number of small vaults placed over one another. The latter is the construction usually employed by the Arabians. The corner pillars are connected in pairs by large semicircular arches, whose archivolts support the circle forming the foot of the dome. The pillars and vaults are covered with painting and mosaic, and in important churches they are frequently faced with marble like the walls. In smaller churches the domes are sometimes placed on marble columns instead of pillars; the former are, however, not calculated to sustain the weight of large cupolas.
The altar of the Byzantine churches is a cube or a cylinder of marble, or some other stone, and has no substructure like the Romanesque. Its perpendicular sides are covered with drapery, embroidered with the Grecian cross and the symbol of trinity. The ciborium is like the Romanesque, being a cupola resting on four columns and four arches. In front of the altar is a sacred inclosure, having two door wings with the sign of the cross.
The details in the Byzantine buildings are in a great measure borrowed from the ancient Greek architecture. The basilicas therefore contain numerous columns of marble, Greek or Roman capitals, architraves, and cornices, bearing evidence of the Athenian or Ephesian sculptor. But when available fragments became scarce the Byzantine artists were compelled to produce original works in accordance with the massive forms of their basilicas. They then made their own heavy capital, which resembles the Corinthian divested of its foliated ornaments, and with its cup pressed into quadrangular shape. This nearly cubic mass received only a few ornaments in raised foliation. Pl. 30, fig. 14, a capital, and fig. 23, base, from St. Vital in Ravenna; figs. 21, 22, base and cap from the Turkish baths in Constantinople, from which is also the capital, pl. 28, fig. 19; pl. 30, figs. 19, 20, base and cap from St. Miniato in France; fig. 18, a, b, base and cap from St. Michael's in Pavia, exhibiting fantastic figures in place of foliated work, are examples of Byzantine details, which were much imitated in Italy, on the Rhine, in Normandy, and in England, where they were frequently employed in the 11th century. The decorations on the Corinthian entablature and cornice underwent similar changes, the mouldings being replaced by a few inclined planes, which were embellished with sculptures, painting, or mosaic (pl. 28, fig. 13, cornice from the Panhagia Nicodimo, in Athens). The sculptures on the Byzantine ornamental work are broad and heavy, exhibiting frequently strings of pearls and festoons apparently set with precious stones. The foliated work is very boldly profiled, the leaves generally terminating in points (fig. 14).
The first church executed in this style was the church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, which is described in the historical part of this work, and illustrated in Plates, Division [III]., pl. 39, figs. 4–6, where we have also mentioned St. Mary's church on Mount Moriah, and the church of Bethlehem (figs. 1, 2). Byzantine architecture was therefore first introduced into Palestine in the middle of the fourth century.
When the old church of St. Sophia in Constantinople was destroyed during a riot, Justinian resolved to replace it by a new edifice intended to exceed all existing churches in size, boldness, and splendor. This work was finished within the short space of four years. The eastern dome was destroyed twenty years later, in consequence of an earthquake, but was quickly rebuilt, and the church consecrated for the second time by Justinian in the thirty-sixth year of his reign, and has now stood for 1200 years a great monument to its enlightened projector.
This grand edifice (pl. 29, fig. 18, plan; pl. 28, fig. 3, view; fig. 4, section) covers an area of 2524 square toises, three fourteenths being occupied by walls and pillars. In front of the church is a court with colonnades having sixteen columns in breadth and five in depth. The front of the building is occupied by the principal entrance and twelve niches, and forms the rear boundary of the court, which is 188 feet broad and 90 feet in depth. The portico has five doors leading into the vestibule, from which the interior of the church is approached by nine doors. The central nave is 158 feet wide, and closed above by one entire and two half cupolas of the same diameter. The summit of the central dome is 189 feet from the floor. This dome has twenty semicircular windows, and rests on four pillars, 36 feet high and 18 to 24 feet thick, and on six columns of Egyptian granite standing between the pillars. The entire building is 352 feet long, by 306 feet in breadth. The sanctuary is raised a few steps above the floor, and forms a semicircle of 48 feet in diameter. Between the sanctuary and the principal nave were the seats of the emperor and patriarch, each on its own side. The great pillars are of freestone firmly anchored with iron. The weight of the domes was made as light as possible by employing in their construction pumice and light bricks from Rhodes. The rest of the masonry is of burnt bricks. The interior is faced with marble, jasper, and porphyry, but the costly material exhibits only indifferent workmanship. Many of the capitals are very tasteless in form and decoration. In some places the facings of costly stones are interrupted by panels of mosaic work in which gold foil is extensively used. Many of the columns used in the building were donations, among which are conspicuous eight porphyry columns from Aurelian's Temple of the Sun, sent to Constantinople by a Roman matron, and eight of green porphyry sent by the authorities of Ephesus. The total cost of St. Sophia is computed as having exceeded five millions of dollars. Besides this church Justinian caused twenty-five others to be built in Constantinople, some of them only little inferior in size.
St. Mark's in Venice (pl. 30, fig. 6, plan; fig. 7, view) was commenced in the eleventh century by order of the Doge Orceolo, and the construction was continued by the Doges Contarini and Selvi. It occupies the site of the old church, destroyed by fire in 976. In the year 1071 it was so far completed that the facing with marble and mosaic could be commenced. Its front and the arrangement of the cupolas in the interior show many affinities to St. Sophia's in Constantinople. It is connected with the palace of the Doges by colonnades exhibiting Byzantine, Moorish, and pointed arches. The church differs from St. Sophia's in the following particulars. The latter has one full and two half cupolas besides four smaller half cupolas attached to the walls of the principal nave, and forming the ceilings over its four corners at about two thirds the height of the two half cupolas that form its ends. St. Mark's has five complete domes, surmounted by pear-shaped turrets on their summits. The front of St. Sophia has simple buttresses, whilst St. Mark's has sixty-six Corinthian columns 13 feet high, on pedestals, grouped perspectively around five entrances of different sizes and surmounted by bold arches. St. Sophia's has no such gateways. The cupolas in St. Mark's are constructed of timber and coated inside and outside. This construction was adopted in order to attain the greatest possible lightness, the edifice being erected on piles. It also allowed the construction of very light walls, those under the cupolas being only 3 feet thick; the walls of the circumference 4 feet; the pillars dividing the gateways, however, are 14 feet thick. The faces between the arches in the front are decorated with mosaic work. The main arch over the centre entrance supports four bronze horses of Greek workmanship, whilst its archivolt exhibits the pictures of the prophets distributed in festoons of leaves. The doors are of bronze, and were cast in Venice in the fourteenth century. Those of the main entrance are said to have been cast by Grecian artists, and were carried away from the church of St. Sophia in Constantinople after the conquest of that city by the Venetians. The perspective gateways form porticoes before the doors, and are decorated like the interior of the domes with mosaic work. The altar stands on four antique columns of yellowish marble in the semicircular sanctuary. It is separated from the nave of the church by a railing supporting the statues of St. Mary and the twelve Apostles, made by the brothers Giacobelli in the fourteenth century. The church contains a number of other remarkable statues. The doors of the vestry, cast in 1576 by Sansovino, and exhibiting several haut-relief figures, are real masterpieces.
The church of St. Theotokus in Constantinople (pl. 28, fig. 5, view; fig. 6, lateral section; fig. 7, plan; figs. 8–15, details), has greater architectural affinities to that of St. Mark than of St. Sophia. It was probably erected under Justinian. The principal entrance is on the west side, and is approached by a double flier. The portico extends some distance back on both sides of the naves, and is lighted by two windows, each of three arched divisions, formed by two columns between three sculptured marble panels. In this portico are a number of columns, evidently antique. Both extremities of the portico have entrances to the side porticoes. The northern one has two columns and leads into the baptistery. A door on the south side of this room leads into a vestibule situated between the front portico and the naves, and having three doors leading into the three naves, three others opening into the front portico, and one opposite the entrance from the baptistery, which leads into the south portico. The church proper forms an exact square, but its middle nave is much wider than the side ones. The centre is surmounted by a dome resting on four columns. The vestibule and portico have four other cupolas. The sanctuary is separated from the principal nave by two thick pillars, and communicates by doors with the two vestries, which have also doors to the side aisles. On the south side of the church a second side aisle is attached, which has its separate entrance from without and communicates with the church proper by three arches resting on two columns and the corresponding corner pillars. The distribution of the windows in the principal front is peculiar and clearly illustrated in fig. 5. It will also be seen from this figure that the front has no main cornice, but only a curved line over the arches of the windows, whilst it is finished above by the three cupolas over the portico, overtopped in the centre by the dome of the central nave. The construction of the cupolas over the portico is seen from the section (fig. 6). The other cupolas are constructed on the same plan.
The Catholicon, the Cathedral of Athens (pl. 29, fig. 9, plan; fig. 10, front view; fig. 11, rear view; figs. 12–17, details), is one of the few buildings which have escaped destruction in the war of independence. It was probably built in the tenth century, for the gables indicate a peculiar application of framework which was foreign to the earlier Byzantine style, and betray Italian influence. Its form is a rectangle, whose length exceeds its breadth by one half The first third is occupied by the vestibule. The church proper has three naves having semicircular apsides with narrow windows. The sanctuary alone projects on the rear of the building in form of a semi-hexagon. There are three entrances to the church, on the south, west, and north sides. The entire building is of white marble. The door in the main front, which is approached by two steps, has a straight lintel, but over it a richly moulded arch inclosing a sculptured panel. Several quadrangular panels on both sides of this arch exhibit bas-reliefs, in which lions occur, probably alluding to Venice, The whole is surmounted by a rich frieze and cornice which separate the lower part of the edifice from the gabled roof of the portico, whose front or gable field is richly decorated with sculptures. The rear has two oblique cornices imitating the front gable and surmounting the sloping roof of the sanctuary. The dome over the main nave has eight windows, with eight paintings between them representing eight apostles. Over these are eight angels in medallions, and the centre is occupied by a colossal picture of Christ The walls of the interior were decorated with paintings, of which in many places traces are still perceptible.
A remarkable church in point of construction is St. Vital's in Ravenna (pl. 29, fig. 1, plan; fig. 2, interior view; fig. 3, longitudinal section; figs. 4–8, details). It was erected in the year 547, after a plan sent from the east, but whose designer is unknown. It is ascribed to Justinian, on account of the repeated occurrence of the name Julian, who was the treasurer of this emperor. The ground plan of the church proper is a regular octagon, with attached rectangular portico, J, bounded on either end by a circular turret, K K, containing the stairs leading to the upper galleries. This portico has been supplanted by a modern one (fig. 1 H), lying obliquely to the axis of the church. In the rear the original arrangement is preserved, the rectangular attachment containing the sanctuary, F, with a semicircular apsis, the vestries on both sides, and also round turrets at the ends, containing entrances from without. The centre of the church is surrounded by eight massive pillars supporting the cupola. Between them, except at E, where the view of the sanctuary is left free, are triple arches, resting on pairs of columns and supporting the ceilings of the side buildings (exedræ), which, on account of the octagonal shape of the church, do not form regular aisles. From two of these exedræ the sanctuary is approached through the arches G G. Over the exedræ are the galleries, which again are bounded by columns resting on the lower ones. In the construction of the cupola (fig. 4) great lightness has been attained by the use of earthen vases (amphoræ, fig. 4b), in rearing the vault. They are placed vertically over, or rather in, each other, the points of the upper ones being placed in the necks of those in the row below. This arrangement is continued to the top of the windows. From thence upwards they are placed horizontally in a continuous spiral line to the top of the dome, which is surmounted by a light framework supporting the sloping roof. The interior of the church is rich in decorative sculpture and painting. The columns are peculiar for having no bases, whilst their capitals (figs. 6, 7) are formed by two truncated reversed pyramids placed one above the other and having decorated faces. On several of them occur the cyphers of the Bishop Neo and of the Treasurer Julian.
Pl. 29, fig. 19, represents the ground plan of the mosque Achmed, in Constantinople, exhibiting a lavish application of columns and domes both in the interior of the building and on its different outer walls, as well as in the spacious fore-court. When the Byzantine style came more generally into use in the west it experienced some important changes. A greater simplicity was introduced in the ground plan, and the front was made to terminate in a triangular roof, sloping on both sides. This was not a gable proper, as no cornice separated the main wall from its top, forming the regular gable field. The church of Trani, in the kingdom of Naples (pl. 28, fig. 16), exhibits this arrangement, with the variation of having two subordinate lower roofs in the same style. At the same time it is a fair example of the meagreness with which the fronts were decorated in the 11th century. On the other hand, this was the period of the introduction of towers in the construction of churches. The church of Trani has probably the oldest known tower. It is very simple, and like the towers of that time generally, much less high than those of the subsequent German style. This church may, however, be regarded as the connecting link between the Byzantine and German styles, as it exhibits both round and pointed arches.
Pisa contains three remarkable buildings in the Byzantine style: the cathedral, the leaning tower, and the baptistery. The last was not built before the twelfth century, and therefore belongs to another period of architecture; but being strictly in the Byzantine style, we include it here. It is a circular building of white marble, 115 feet in diameter, and 172 feet high. Three steps surround it, supporting twenty rather tasteless columns in three-fourth outline on pedestals. They have capitals with the Roman combination of volutes and foliation, and below them the necks have still other foliated ornaments. The shafts stand 2\(\frac{1}{2}\) diameters apart, and are connected by elliptical arches, on which rests a poorly moulded entablature supporting 60 columns, again connected by elliptical arches. High gables are placed on every pair of these arches. The gable fields are decorated with bas-reliefs, and their peaks with busts and statues. The structure is crowned with a peculiar imbricated dome. The interior of the baptistery contains some fine statues by Nicolas of Pisa, the regenerator of sculpture in that period.
The cathedral of Pisa (pl. 30, fig. 3, plan; fig. 4, western elevation; fig. 5, perspective view) was designed by Buschetto. Its erection was commenced in 1063 by Dulichio, and it was built with the booty made by the Pisans in Sicily. Its front has three entrances with horizontal lintels, lying between columns with antique capitals, but with shafts of inferior proportions. It is inclosed between high corner pillars. On these and the six columns abut the springs of six semicircular arches, on which rests a horizontal cornice, supporting two corner pillars and eighteen columns between them, having Roman capitals and square abaci. These are connected by 19 elliptical arches, with a straight cornice over them. On the latter stand in the centre ten columns, connected by elliptical arches with another straight cornice, whilst on either side there are four columns, decreasing in height towards the corners, and surmounted by oblique cornices. On the cornice over the centre stand nine columns, connected by elliptical arches, on which is the fourth straight cornice supporting the gable, which is adorned with columns of various heights. On the peak of the gable is a statue of St. Mary; the acroteria support two angels and the lower corner pillars two apostles or saints.
The sides of the cathedral have very nearly the same arrangement, only that pilasters take the place of columns. Over the second tier of pilasters are an architrave and cornice, whence the slopes of the roofs over the side aisles rise to the higher walls of the centre nave, in which their upper ends are lodged. The highest part of the side walls of the centre nave is decorated with half columns, connected by elliptical arches, and having closed windows, with semicircular tops, between them. The rear of the church has three tiers of pilasters. The intersection of the nave and transept is surmounted by a high, egg-shaped cupola, with a ball at its top. The total number of columns in the structure is 450, of which 208 are in the interior. Many of them have been taken from antique monuments; among others, 24 Corinthian granite columns, which are supposed to have belonged to the baths of Hadrian.
The renowned leaning tower of Pisa stands in the south-east angle formed by the transept and sanctuary of the cathedral. Its construction was commenced in 1074, by the German architect, Wilhelm, of Innsbruck. Its diameter is 50 feet, including the wall. Its total height is 170 feet. It consists of eight stories, exhibiting on the outside 267 small columns, arranged in eight tiers. They have poor capitals, and are connected by elliptical arches, surmounted by rather narrow cornices, surrounding the tower between the different tiers of columns. The entire structure is of white marble. Its inclination is very considerable, the summit being 12\(\frac{1}{2}\) feet out of plumb-line. It has not yet been satisfactorily decided whether the obliquity of the tower lay in the intention of the architect or arose from the tower having settled on one side. Some strongly favor the former view, holding, as the tradition relates, that the architect, who was deformed, and therefore had intentionally built this tower oblique. An inscription is said to have been found in the tower, running thus: Wilhelmus, Œnipontanus, obliquus, obliqui vindex (Wilhelm, of Innsbruck, the deformed, vindicates deformity). Wiebeking, however, who has carefully surveyed the entire structure, is of opinion that its obliquity is owing to the ground's having given way, and that a counterpoise had been attained by filling part of the interior with a mass of earth.
We will now examine a few buildings of the Byzantine style in Germany, showing the changes it there underwent, and its gradual approximation to the German style.
The cathedral of Bonn (pl. 30, fig. 9a, plan; fig. 9b, perspective view from north-east) is a remarkable building of this class. It is said to have been originally built by order of Helena, mother of Constantine, and dedicated by her to the martyrs Cassius and Florentius, in the year 319. The present structure, which bears traces of the old arrangement in several parts, especially on the south side of the choir, was commenced in the eleventh century, and the central spire was finished in 1177 by Gerhard von Sayn. The ground plan forms a long quadrangle divided into three unequal naves. The eastern extremity is occupied by a long choir, a semicircular sanctuary, and two attached spires. The transept below the choir is short, and terminates in polygons at both. ends. The octagon at the point of intersection of nave and transept designates the position of the principal spire, which contains the belfry The principal entrance, at the western end of the church, is flanked by two small round spires. The interior of this cathedral exhibits uncommon boldness. Its outlines are of unparalleled purity; the arrangement of tiers upon tiers of columns and arches is exceedingly graceful. The spires are perfectly proportioned and governed by the bold centre spire. These combined merits make the cathedral of Bonn an object of universal admiration. The semicircular wall of the sanctuary has under its cornice, which rests on consoles, a beautiful gallery formed by arches. Under it are the large windows through which the choir is lighted. Under the choir is a crypt. The sides of the naves have pointed arches, whilst the spires and the polygonal walls of the transept exhibit the true Byzantine round arches, surmounted by cornices between the tiers of columns.
The effect of the interior is not less striking. The naves have round-arched ceilings resting on thick pillars and on the side walls. The thickness of the pillars is disguised by two tiers of columns placed in front of them. Those of the lower tier are connected by round arches, the upper ones by pointed and divided arches. The imposing effect of the church is owing to the coldness of the stonework rather than to decoration, in which the cathedral is much less rich than the Italian buildings of the same period. Its principal features are perfectly Byzantine, especially the arrangements of columns over one another. The mixed application of round and pointed arches, though attempted with surprising skill, and pleasing in effect, shows a want of unity in the construction which would seriously disturb the excellence of the building, were it not counterbalanced by the exquisite taste with which the interior decorations have been introduced at a later period.
St. Castor's church, in Coblentz (pl. 28, fig. 17), was founded in the 10th century, in the Byzantine style. In 1388 the choir was added in the German style. The church proper is divided into three naves. The central one is 30 feet wide from centre to centre of the pillars, and had originally a wooden ceiling. The cross-vault ceiling was not introduced before 1298. The side aisles are only 13 feet wide, and have cross-vault ceilings of porous tufa. The length of the centre nave in the clear is 148 feet; its height, to the keystone, 39 feet. At the sides of the lower end of the choir are two old towers, 95 feet high.
VII. Plate 33: Islamic, Indian, and Early Romanesque Architecture
A very interesting building is the hall of the Abbey of Lorsch, in Hesse-Darmstadt (pl. 33, fig. 11, plan; fig. 12, elevation; fig. 13, longitudinal section; fig. 14, capital of the interior columns; fig. 15, capital and base of the exterior columns; fig. 16, details from the pilasters in the upper story; fig. 17, main cornice; fig. 18, middle cornice; fig. 19, impost cornice; fig. 20, ornament of the inner arch).
This hall formed the entrance to the court of the abbey which was destroyed by fire in 1090. It is now used as a chapel. It is 33 feet long, 24 feet broad, and 25 feet high, and has two stories. The lower story has on both sides (east and west) arcades of three round arches, with two columns between them and two at the ends. These columns have Ionic bases, and capitals resembling very much the ancient Composite order. The acanthus leaves are rather rudely wrought. On the capitals are square slabs. The middle cornice resting on these pillars has foliated decoration and a pearl moulding which strongly remind us of the cornices of the ancients. Its upper socle is a little inclined to produce a boldly marked shade. The front of the upper story has ten fluted pilasters supporting nine isosceles archivolts, forming pediment shaped ornaments. These ornaments never occur in the South of Europe, but are frequent in England, being among the characteristics of the Anglo-Saxon style of architecture. The capitals of the pilasters are formed by two rows of eggs and two volutes. They are a clumsy imitation of the Ionic capital. All the cornices, columns, and pilasters are of hard, white freestone; the walls are inlaid with lozenge-shaped plates of red and white marble. The windows in the second story, which are round-arched, cannot have been made at the same time with the rest of the building, but must have been added when it was arranged for a chapel. At the same time, probably, the eastern arches were closed and the altar placed against the wall, with two columns and an arch as decoration. The round tower at the southern end of the hall is of more recent date, and was evidently only built in order to place in it the staircase leading to the tribune in the interior of the hall.
The Abbey of Lorsch was founded in 764, under Pipin, by the Benedictine abbot, Gundeland, and was consecrated in 774, in presence of Charlemagne, his consort Hildegarda, and his sons Charles and Pipin. The style in which the hall is built corresponds perfectly with this minute in the chronicles of Lorsch. It is therefore greatly surprising that the distinguished archæologists, Kugler and Schnaase, give the period of its construction as being in the twelfth century, whilst not a single detail, far less the plan of the hall, corresponds with the style of the latter period.
Gothic and Lombardic Styles
1. Gothic Style. About the middle of the fifth century when the Byzantine style was prevailing in Constantinople and the East, and the Romanesque the most frequent in Rome and the west, a new style was introduced in Northern Italy under King Theodoric, the Gothic, which must not be confounded with the old German style which is often misnamed Gothic. Theodoric was passionately fond of the arts and lavish in his expenditures for their development. He devoted large sums annually to the preservation of the ancient Roman monuments, especially the aqueducts and the amphitheatre. During his reign a great number of buildings were erected in Naples, Pavia, Spoleto, Verona, and Ravenna. In the last town there are still ruins of the palace of Theodoric which testify to an economy in outward decoration, quite uncommon in that period in other countries. The mausoleum of Theodoric in Ravenna (pl. 28, fig. 18), built in the sixth century and still existing as the St. Mary's round church; the front of the Franciscan convent, believed to be part of the palace; the baptistery and other buildings of the fifth, sixth, and seventh centuries show the peculiarities of the Gothic style proper. These consist in very strong walls; in columns and pillars of good proportions but with capitals decorated with other foliation than the antique orders; in Roman leading ideas and the exclusive application of the semicircular arch and semi-cylindrical vault.
The mausoleum of Theodoric was built by order of Queen Amalasunta. It is of Istrian marble, and its details may serve as a good illustration of the Gothic style. Its cupola is of a single block of marble, 34 feet in diameter. Twelve projections were left on the exterior of the cupola, to which the ropes were fastened for lifting this monolith. They appear in the elevation like so many small garret windows. The parts of the exterior are well arranged, the doors well profiled and ornamented. The lower part, containing the sepulchre, is filled up with earth.
Only a limited number of buildings in the Gothic style have been preserved. They all prove that this style equally approaches the ancient Roman and the Romanesque. Triangular gables, such as were peculiar in the Byzantine and German styles, never occur in the Gothic, which therefore cannot be confounded with either.
The Visigothic style is sufficiently independent to claim a special notice. It occurs chiefly in Spain. The principal church of Tarragona and one of the gates of Barcelona are good examples. The Visigothic style in which the walls are frequently interrupted by round or polygonal towers came into requisition when, in the times of club-law, strength in building was particularly desirable. It therefore was termed the castle style by the Franks and Normans, who frequently erected buildings in this style. We have treated more largely of this style in the part of this work relating to Military Sciences when noticing the fortification of the middle ages, and given as examples the Bastille in Paris (Plates, Division V., pl. 46, figs, 8–10), the tower of Montlhery (Div. V., pl. 44, figs. 5, 6), and the castle of Vincennes (Div. V. pl. 44, figs. 14, 15).
2. The Lombardic Style. The buildings erected by the Lombards in Italy, in the 7th and 8th centuries, principally churches, are in their main features Byzantine; but for several peculiarities they have been grouped by themselves, and constitute the monuments of the Lombardic style. Their characteristics are the following:
Very small semicircularly arched windows.
Small arched niches, separated by thin pillars under the slopes of the gable, as in St. John's church in Pavia (pl. 28, fig. 15), which is the best example of the Lombardic style.
Half or three fourths columns at the entrances, grouped so as to form perspective gateways. The columns of the two sides are connected above by semicircular arches. Their bases, shafts, and capitals are decorated with rude foliated work or symbolic figures, whilst the Byzantine capital in a measure approaches the Corinthian. The columns in the interior have generally rude cubic capitals supporting the arches.
The frequent spiral arrangement of the foliated decoration on the shafts.
The rude sculptures, frequently satirical representations of the abuses of priestcraft. These are found mostly in the entrances.
Festoons, wrought in stone, under the main cornices and under those marking the different stories of the churches or towers.
The invariably pyramidal spires on the towers.
The Lombardic style has been frequently adopted in the churches of Germany. In attempting to classify the buildings of the middle ages, however, and to group them in the various styles, the duration of the construction must be taken into account and allowance made for additions to the original plans, since the later architects did not generally aim at uniformity by following the style of the original designer, but frequently adopted the taste of their own period. Thus the cathedral of Bonn (pl. [30], fig. 9b), which we have considered among the Byzantine buildings modified in their introduction into Germany, has been adorned with the festoons and the pyramidal spires peculiar to the Lombardic styles, in contradistinction from the Byzantine.
The Arabian or Moorish Style
When the Arabians, after conquering Africa, 665–689, penetrated into Spain in 710, they introduced in the interior of their edifices a richness in mosaic work, slender columns, inlaid floors, and magnificent ceilings, which far surpassed that of all other decorations of that age. Their rich architecture chiefly flourished in the 7th and 8th centuries in Bagdad, Cairo, Alexandria, Fez, Cordova, and Barcelona. It reached its climax in the palace of Alhambra, near Granada, of which we shall presently speak. Originally the Arabian edifices must have been wholly destitute of splendor, as is seen from the Kaaba at Mecca, built 100 b. c., which is quite plain. The Arabian or Moorish style, as it is usually termed, is entirely peculiar, differing from all other known styles. Among its prominent features are:
The horseshoe-shaped arches, which generally occur exclusively, but sometimes in connexion with semicircular arches, and in a few buildings even surmounted by such. The latter arrangement is of exquisite effect, being exceedingly picturesque, and it is remarkable that it has never been imitated in other styles of building.
The Moorish columns, employed in great numbers, are remarkably slender. Their capitals are sometimes antique, but generally of a peculiar shape, best described as two truncated pyramids placed on each other, the upper one inverted, somewhat like an hour-glass.
The walls and niches are richly inlaid with peculiar ornaments and sentences from the Koran, sometimes in stucco and frequently even in precious stones. The ornaments are painted with gaudy colors, chiefly purple, azure, and gold.
The floors are of colored marble plates, laid in elaborate patterns.
The vaults and arches exhibit frequently lattice-work, through which the buildings are lighted.
The entablature, consisting of but few members, is always boldly projecting.
The height in the clear of the Moorish buildings is generally limited; on the other hand they cover extensive areas. The mosque at Cordova, for instance, which is only 35 feet high in the clear, is 620 feet long.
The cupolas, which frequently occur in the Moorish buildings, are mostly bulbiform.
VII. Plate 31: Islamic Architecture
Among the numerous edifices of the Moorish style, we mention the following as the most interesting:
The mosque at Cordova, commenced during the caliphate of Abdorrhaman, in 787, and finished under his son, is remarkable for the number of columns it contains. Pl. 33, fig. 1, gives its ground plan; pl. 31, figs. 1, 2, interior views; pl. 32, fig. 15, a longitudinal section; figs. 16 a b, and pl. 33, figs. 2, 3, details of the columns, the two first reminding vividly of the antique; fig. 4, a fragment of the principal cornice in the interior; pl. 32, figs. 17–25, ornaments. In the ground plan, the lighter shaded parts are the additions made by the successors of Abdorrhaman. AA is the original mosque, A the addition made by Almansor, B the forecourt. The wall in the rear of the chapel, e, and the hall Maksourah, a, which is interrupted by the entrance to the sanctuary, is termed Mihrab. Such a wall is found in all mosques. It is always placed at that side of the mosque which lies in the direction of Mecca, so that the devout look in that direction during their prayers. This wall is always the richest in decoration. The apartments d and c are other chapels. The section (pl. 32, fig. 15) is in the line e c A the ground plan. The interior view (pl. 31, fig. 1) is taken from the east side, the hall Maksourah appearing in the foreground to the right; fig. 2 gives the interior view of this hall.
The mosque forms a quadrangle 620 feet by 440. The forecourt occupies 210 feet of the length. The building proper is therefore 410 feet deep by 440 feet in width. It had originally 21 doors, of which only five are left. They were coated with richly ornamented bronze plates. The 18 pillars of the front towards the court are surmounted by Moorish arches. The breadth of the building is divided into 19 aisles, 14 feet wide in the clear, partly extending through the entire depth, in part only a limited distance. According to Murphy, the edifice contains 850 columns of granite, porphyry, jasper, and various kinds of marble, among which are many that were carried away from Roman and Carthaginian buildings. The columns are only 18 inches thick, and not much above 12 feet high. The arches sprung from front to rear are Moorish; those from side to side, resting on the capitals of the columns, are of the same form, but their springings are laid against pillars which rise between them from the capitals of the columns, and are six to eight feet high, terminating in cubic capitals, on which rest somewhat depressed Romanesque arches which connect them. The spaces between the upper and lower arches are left open. The effect produced by this extensive lattice-work between the arches and the ceiling is very pleasant. The arches of the hall Maksourah (pl. 31, fig. 2) are still more complicated and their effect grander in proportion. Their construction is more easily illustrated than described; a glance at our figure will give a clear idea of their surpassing splendor.
When the Moors lost the supremacy in Spain, the mosque was made a Christian church, but remained unaltered until 1528, when several alterations were made in the interior, executed in the German style, and totally destroying the harmony of the whole. The chapels, especially, which we have mentioned are in grievous discordance with the leading features of the ground plan.
The greatest architectural work of the Moors is the palace Alhambra, built by order of Mahomed Abu-Abdallah, in the beginning of the 13th century, near the city of Granada. This edifice is situated on a hill by itself; its various component parts covering an area of 2300 feet by 600. The exterior is rather plain. The buildings are approached by a Grecian gate, erected by the Emperor Charles V. The inner gate is known as the Gate of Justice, having formerly been the place where minor litigations were adjusted. Above this gate a colossal hand is wrought symbolical of judicature. Some have thought it and the key over another gate to have been intended for a magic spell which was to insure perpetuity to the palace. These gates lead into an open space with a tasteful palace erected by Charles V. Thence a simple gate leads into the palace of the Moorish princes, Alhambra proper. The first court, that of Alcerba, is paved with white marble. In its centre is a reservoir, 130 feet by 30, surrounded by rose trees and containing gold fishes. Thence an arcade leads into the court of the lions (pl. 32, fig. 1), named from twelve lions which support the alabaster reservoir of a magnificent fountain in the centre of the court. The splendid halls surrounding this court afford the best facilities for studying the details of the Moorish style, of which we have represented a number in figs. 2–12. Only the sides towards the court have white marble arches; the ceilings are of wood, flat, and gorgeously decorated. One of the halls exhibits rich inlaid stucco from Damascus, and designs ornamented with inlaid work of lapis lazuli. Among the many divisions of the palace, the hall of the ambassadors, or the golden hall (fig. 13), and the hall of the two sisters (fig. 14), are the most attractive. The latter takes its name from two marble columns found there, which are exactly alike, even to the most minute parts of the decoration. All the apartments of the palace and all its courts and gardens are provided with good water by special water-works.
On another hill opposite Alharabra is El Generalife, a villa of the Moorish Kings, with beautiful gardens. Its entrance (pl. 31, fig. 4) exhibits the peculiar arches used in this villa. They have the height of the horse-shoe arches, but are closed above with the true arc of the Romanesque style, only with the addition of the Moorish ornaments. The capitals of the columns are of the true Moorish form, resembling hour-glasses in shape. The villa is surrounded by pleasure groves, with numerous fountains.
In Alcaçar, the citadel of Seville, there are several Moorish remains, of which we mention the chapel Zancaron, an interior view of which is given in fig. 3. This building evidently belongs to a much later period than Alhambra, as it has German pointed arches besides the Moorish horse-shoe, and numerous ornamental details borrowed from the German style.
In Constantinople the forecourt of the mosque of Osman is a remarkable Moorish structure. The mosque itself is a more recent building, dating only from the last century, whilst the court (pl. 30, fig. 8) which forms the avenue to it is probably 800 years old. It is in the purest Moorish style, although the columns, which are somewhat thicker than usual in Moorish buildings, have clearly been taken from ancient Roman buildings, their clumsy capitals notwithstanding. The construction of the cupolas over the single vaults is very curious, the ribs of the vaults only being executed rising from the side arches and forming the transition from the quadrangular to the circular form, their upper extremities carrying a circular cornice and a low drum with windows, surmounted by the low cupola, which has the form of a small spherical segment.
In Egypt there are several interesting Moorish edifices, from which we select as examples the two mosques of Ebn Touloun and of El Moyed, both in Cairo. The former was built in the 9th century, by Ahmed Abn Touloun, governor of Egypt. It is peculiar for having no other columns than two at the Kiblah (direction of the eyes: therefore sanctuary). Ahmed's first plan had been to excel all older mosques in splendor. He accordingly ordered more than 300 columns to be placed in the forecourt alone. On learning that all Egypt could not furnish this number of columns except by despoiling all the ancient monuments and the Christian churches of theirs, he changed his design, and ordered his architect to build the mosque entirely without columns. This mosque is known by the name Djama ben Touloun. In illustration of the same we have given in pl. 33, fig. 5, the ground plan; fig. 6, perspective view of the court; pl. 32, fig. 26, longitudinal section along the line c d of the plan (B being the upper part of the minaret or steeple A); figs. 27, 28, windows; fig. 29, one of the niches between the windows; figs. 30 a b, 31, friezes from the interior; figs. 32, 33, the capitals of the columns of the Kiblah in the wall Mihrab. The ground plan forms a square of 280 feet; on three sides there are two rows of quadrangular pillars; on the south side A, five rows. The entire building, in which Moorish and pointed arches occur in tasteful connexion, is of brick, coated with stucco, and partly painted, partly inlaid. The wall Mihrab especially is richly inlaid with ivory, and has numerous inlaid inscriptions in the Kufic character.
The mosque of El Moyed was built in 1415, by the Sultan Abou el Nasse Sheikh Mahmoudy, with the cognomen Melek el Moyed, after his release from captivity with the Emir Mentach. Pl. 33, fig. 7, represents its ground plan; pl. 31, fig. 5, the interior view of the court. The mosque forms a square of about 300 feet. Its court is entirely surrounded by colonnades, the east and west sides forming two naves each, the north side three, and the south side four. On this side the mihrab is at b; c is the mimbar, or pulpit; the tribune of the Khatib or leader of prayers, with the desks e e for reading the Koran. At the east end of these naves, in g, is the sepulchre of Sultan el Moyed; and at the west end, in f, that of his family. At h are the magnificent doors leading to the adjoining Bazar of Soukaryeh, i the passages to the adjoining school and the stairs to the top of the edifice. Before the northern side of the court is a kind of portico, k; at its western extremity the sinks l, and connected with it by a passage the public baths, m. In the centre of the court, at n, is the fountain, surmounted by a tent, unlike the fountain of the Djama ebn Touloun, which has a cupola. The total effect of the edifice is very grand; it is one of the finest monuments of Moorish architecture in the 15th century. The archivolts are composed of red and white stones alternating. The columns, which are all antique, are of different heights, the differences being counterbalanced by unequal pedestals. The ceilings are of wood, panelled and covered with ornaments, which are all painted in bright colors. As usual, the mihrab is the most luxuriously decorated. Its splendor is really astonishing.
Modern Persian and Indian Styles
The modern Persian and Indian styles of architecture are peculiar in various points. The roofs of the dwelling-houses consist of very flat-arched terraces, coated with a durable cement. All mosques and sepulchres, on the contrary, have very high artificially vaulted domes. The form of the arches employed in these styles for doors and windows and in ornaments, is very curious. It resembles the bottom of a ship turned with the keel upwards. It is the same form that occurred under the name ass's-back arch in German architecture, towards its decline, and occurs in a number of buildings in France and England.
Among the edifices in the Indian style is the Antler Tower, in Ispahan (pl. 33, fig. 10), whose surface is covered with skulls of deer. The colonnade exhibits the curious Persian arches which we have just mentioned.
The Mausoleum of Ibrahim Adil Shah, at Bedjapur (fig. 8), shows the bulbiform cupolas which were placed both on buildings of great diameters and on minarets. The Persians were so far advanced in the construction of domes that they arched their smaller cupolas entirely without scaffolding.
Near Delhi is a peculiar tower, Kutub Minar (fig. 9), attached to a mausoleum. It is nearly 200 feet high and entirely of red granite. Exteriorly it is covered with ornaments, and divided into five stories by far-projecting cornices. The interior is occupied by a spiral staircase, leading to its summit.
The Period from the 11th to the 16th Century, or to the Decline of Art
Although the Byzantine and kindred styles of architecture, as we have seen, originated in the first portion of the middle ages, yet a number of buildings in these styles were erected during the second. The characteristic style of this period, however, is the pointed-arch style. We will devote a few cursory remarks to its peculiarities before entering upon a more minute examination of its principal monuments. For greater clearness we shall separate the various component parts of the churches, and consider each by itself, noticing first that the ground plan was gradually perfected and received a more symmetrical and constant form.
1. The Apsis or Sanctuary. The churches of the 11th and 12th centuries terminate in a semicircular apsis, like the basilicas (pl. 31, fig. 1), connected by a semi-conic dome with the main building. It is, however, generally lower than the latter, whilst its floor is elevated by several steps. In the middle or at the lower end of the apsis stood the altar. Behind it, near the rear wall, was the bishop's throne, which was occupied by this functionary and his two deacons. Sometimes the apsis was triangular, as in the church of Vaison (fig. 2); quadrangular, as in the church of Amans (fig. 4); or polygonal, as in the cathedral of Carpentras (fig. 3); yet its interior was almost always round. At first this part of the church had no windows. They were afterwards introduced, but generally in uneven numbers. In many very old churches the altar was placed against the rear wall, when the bishop's throne was south of it.
2. The High Choir. This occupied the space between the apsis and the transept. It was originally intended for the accommodation of the singers and inferior clergy. Its roof was usually lower than that of the nave, but higher than that of the apsis. The choir was usually separated from the main nave by a railing and the desk at which the Gospel was read.
3. The Main Nave is the principal part of the church, forming, in an architectural point of view, the nucleus around which all the other parts are grouped, and against which they lean. It is therefore the most lofty. It is the place where the worshippers attend service.
4. The Side Aisles are parallel to the main nave, and are only separated from it by rows of pillars or columns. In the basilicas they were cut short by a wall at the base of the apsis; in the Byzantine churches they had subordinate apsides of their own, used as vestry, library, &c.; but in the pointed-arch style they extend far back, encircling the choir and apsis of the main nave, and forming the gallery of the choir, which in many cases has attached chapels at every arch, as in the cathedral of Magdeburg (pl. 41, fig. 1) and the church St. Germain de Près in Paris (pl. 35, fig. 1). Examples are, however, found of pointed-arch churches and chapels without any side aisles; e. g. St. John's church in Beauvais (pl. 31, fig. 5). On the other hand, the side aisles of very large churches are divided by pillars or columns into two parts, so that the entire building apparently has five aisles, as Notre Dame in Paris (pl. 40, fig. 1).
VII. Plate 34: Cologne Cathedral; Medieval Architecture
5. The Transept is a transverse nave intersecting the main nave and side aisles at right angles at the foot of the choir, and extending more or less beyond the outer walls of the side aisles, as in the basilicas, thus giving the church the form of a cross. The two projections were termed the crossarms. At their extremities subordinate altars were placed. Small churches and chapels were often without a transept; very large ones had sometimes two, which gave them the form of the archiepiscopal cross, or the cross of Lorrain (pl. 34, fig. 6). When the arms of the transept are as long as the main nave, the church forms the Greek cross (fig. 7); most commonly the main nave is much longer. The church then forms the Latin cross (fig. 8). In some churches the high choir with the apsis is longer than the main nave. The form of such churches is termed an inverted cross.
6. The Portals. The oldest churches had only one entrance leading into the forecourt. Since the courts were abandoned the principal front portal has taken their place (pl. 35, fig. 3, the portal of Notre Dame la Grande, in Poitiers). The portal is usually on the west side opposite the sanctuary. Sometimes, however, the church has two apsides at opposite ends of the main nave. In such cases the portal is in one of the cross arms, whilst there are subordinate entrances on both sides of the lower apsis, as in the cathedral of Treves (pl. 34, fig. 14), which is either occupied by a subordinate altar or serves as a baptistery. The grand portal is, in all edifices of the middle ages, the part which received the greatest display of magnificence; yet the subordinate ones added greatly to the splendor of the other façades.
7. The Forehall and Vestibule. Originally the vestibules were forehalls properly so-called. They were attached to the churches, and served to protect penitents against the inclemency of the weather without their entering the church itself. Gradually this use was set aside and the size of the forehalls much reduced until they were entirely done away with, or rather supplanted by the vestibules. Of these there are two kinds, the exterior and the interior. The former are usually constructed in imitation of the antique portico, as in the basilica of St. Vincent in Rome (fig. 13). The interior vestibules are sometimes in form of a rotunda with a cupola, as in the Temple in Paris (fig. 9). This is an imitation of the church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, which is found also in several Romanesque churches, Vestibules are also naturally afforded by the areas of the substructures of the towers or spires, examples of which are found in St. Radegund's church in Poitiers (pl. 34, fig. 10), in the minster of Freiburg (pl. 35, fig. 16 A), and others. When there are two towers or spires, the space between them is roofed in and forms the vestibule, as in the church of Monreal in Sicily (pl. 34, fig. 11), the cathedral of Magdeburg (pl. 41, fig. 16), &c. A vestibule may also be obtained by placing the door some distance back behind the mass of the portal, as in the cathedral of Rheims (pl. 34, fig. 12).
Another kind of vestibule occurred in the middle ages, attached to the churches, though answering secular purposes. Such were the halls of the judges or magistrates, where decrees of the courts and ordinances were made public. These were decorated with some peculiar ornaments, often lions, as in St. Zeno's church in Venice (pl. 35, fig. 4). Hence arose the formula in documents of that age "datuin inter leones" (given between the lions). Sometimes the magisterial hail, instead of being at the side of the portal, formed part of the same, and then was a vestibule in the proper sense of the term.
There were also in some churches fortified fore-halls, with battlements and loopholes, or with projections over the gates, in the manner of the machicolis which we have described in another part of this work (see Military Sciences, p. 145, or Vol. III. p. 621). Such halls, which were designed for an occasional defence of the churches, are represented in pl. 34, figs. 15–17, and pl. 35, fig. 5.
Ornamental fore-halls mostly projected considerably from the façades (fig. 6), or the front walls were exceedingly thick, so as to afford space for such halls in the solid masonry. Halls of the latter kind are found in some of the buildings which we shall presently describe, and will then be referred to more in detail. In some cases the fore-halls were merely light attachments, affording shelter against the weather (pl. 34, fig. 18), or even mere penthouses.
8. The Towers and Spires. Church towers were from the first designed to afford lofty places for the bells, by whose sound, from the very introduction of Christianity, the devout were summoned to worship. They were first added to the Roman basilicas when they were made Christian churches. At first they stood detached from the churches; and in Italy and Germany there are still several such detached towers (Campaniles). Subsequently the towers were made to serve still another purpose, namely, of indicating from a distance to the wanderer the site of the church. Hence their increased height, which also served to afford greater scope for the decoration of the edifices. In the churches of the 12th and 13th centuries, the bell tower or spire is mostly placed over the middle of the church, where the transept and nave intersect each other, as in Notre Dame in Dijon (pl. 34, fig. 20) and the cathedral of Bonn (pl. 30, fig. 9b). Very large cathedrals have often seven or eight spires; but generally only three, when the two principal ones are placed at the sides of the main portal, and usually a smaller one over the middle of the church.
9. The Vestry is always situated near the high choir. It is less a subordinate part of the church than an addition to it. In many of the older churches it has not been considered at all in the original plan, and has afterwards been added, either by cutting off part of a side aisle, or by erecting a special apsis for it at the angle of the main apsis and a side aisle.
10. The Exterior. The outer walls of churches and other buildings of the different centuries of this period were subject to a great many and important changes. We find on the one hand plain, hard-smoothed walls, and again, those that were decorated in the highest degree of splendor, even to overloading. The ornament, therefore, is no essential part of the pointed-arch style, but assumes its characteristics in accordance with its rules. The walls that are not held perfectly plain in their larger masses exhibit embellishments of various kinds. They are then usually divided into panels by mouldings or straight members, and these panels ornamented with braided work (pl. 34, fig. 21), scales (fig. 22), or checkered work (fig. 23). The walls are, however, also found interrupted by pilasters, or by flat recesses or niches arched above, or with true or imitation lattice-work. Such arches were often subdivided into smaller ones, whose form corresponds with that of the larger arch, and which jointly rest on a column, as in the Byzantine window (fig. 24). The filling over the column is then usually pierced, the openings corresponding in shape with the style of the arches, and being three or four lobed (fig. 25). Similar apertures are also employed for ventilating in other places; or, when decoration only is aimed at, superseded by mere recesses of the same shape. The arches often appear intertwined, their springings resting on alternate columns or pilasters (figs. 26–28, round and pointed arches, with imitation lattice-work).
Special attention is claimed by the columns, pillars, and mitres (or joints) of arches, or arched recesses or niches. Columns are distinguished from pillars and pilasters by their having capitals, and usually also bases. A medium between the two kinds of supports is represented by the columnar pillars (fig. 29), which are always short and clumsy, and instead of capitals have only an astragal and slab at the top, and frequently only one or the other. A column is said to be incomplete if it has not a distinct base, shaft, and capital, that is to say if one or two of these parts are absent. Thus the base and part of the shaft may be wanting. When the latter is the case, as in half-columns, the lower end of the shaft rests on a console (fig. 30), or on a foliated knob (fig. 32); or the shaft is truncated, i. e. cut off horizontally or obliquely (fig. 31). The last mode of construction was frequently not the intention of the first designer, but the absent part was subsequently removed by truncation, in order to gain space or light.
The various forms of the outline of columns are illustrated on pl. 34, namely: round (fig. 34a); with an obtuse projection (fig. 34b); with an acute projection (fig. 33c); elliptical (fig. 33d); square (fig. 34e), the outline of a pillar; rectangular against a wall, the form of a pilaster (fig. 34f); and polygonal (fig. 33g).
VII. Plate 35: Various Architectural Styles of the Middle Ages
The bases either rest immediately on the ground or floor, or are elevated by plinths or pedestals. They are either composed of mouldings or decorated with animal figures (pl. 35, fig. 7), with single heads of animals (fig. 8), or with foliation.
The various forms of shafts are shown in fig. 10 as club-shaped (a), swelled (b), baluster-shaped (c), cylindrical (d), and conic (e); their grouping is illustrated in fig. 11, viz. simple (a), crossed (b), braided (c), broken (d), knotted (e), and divided by rings (f). The different decorations of shafts are represented in fig. 12, viz. fluted (a), deep fluted (b), spirally fluted (c), lozenged (d), facetted (e), crimped (f), with chevrons (g), with steps (h), with scales (i), and with beads (k). Sometimes shafts are also decorated with vines or climbing figures. They are even at times supplanted by human or fabulous figures (pl. 36, fig. 1). The columns of the architecture of the middle ages are, however, not subject to strict rules like those of ancient times, and those constructed according to the columnar orders. The columns of the first centuries of the middle ages are indeed clumsy, but as architecture gradually rose from its dejection, they were very much improved, and in the prime of the German style they were of admirable slenderness, their real thickness being skilfully disguised by mouldings and ogees.
VII. Plate 37: Medieval Cathedrals and Architectural Details
Engraver: E. Schmidt
The capitals in the middle ages, and especially in the German or pointed-arch style, are of the most varied forms. In their decorations the freest scope is left to the taste or fancy of the architect or sculptor. We have selected a number of examples showing the different forms occurring in remarkable edifices (pl. 37). They may be conveniently designated as follows: cylindrical, continuation of the shaft with ornaments (figs. 1, 2); cubic, with rounded lower corners (figs. 3, 4); strictly cubic (fig. 5); conical (fig. 6); heart-shaped (fig. 7); inverted truncated pyramid (fig. 8); cup-shaped (fig. 9); knob-shaped (fig. 10); prismatic bell-shaped (fig. 11); funnel-shaped (figs. 12, 13); cubic, with an astragal below (fig. 14); and boat-shaped (fig. 15). The decorations consisted either of sculpture or of painting, or of both combined. Smooth capitals were mostly painted; there are even instances on record when very excellent sculpture in capitals was filled up with mortar and smoothed over in order to gain a surface for painted ornaments. Not unfrequently most exquisite sculptured work has been discovered on capitals that were thus plastered up. The sculptures of this period represent either the human figure or subjects from the animal and vegetable kingdoms, or the various human pursuits. The human figure appears at first only as a mask on the abacus (pl. 35, fig. 13); afterwards in half length in foliation (pl. 37, fig. 16). Entire historical representations are also sometimes met with on capitals (pl. 37, fig. 17); or clerical processions (fig. [18]); or symbolic groups, whose import it is frequently difficult to determine (pl. 35, fig. 14). Again, the ornaments may be mere freaks of fancy. Among them are groups representing human vices, or abuse of clerical power, and their imagined punishments.
Among the decorations from the animal kingdom, few are taken from among the animals of the country; they are generally representations of foreign or even fabulous animals which are supporting the abacus (pl. 37, fig. 19).
Engraver: F. Schmidt
Decorations from the vegetable kingdom are the most frequent, including leaves, flowers, and fruits. These belong usually to the vegetation of the country, rarely to foreign countries; where they are not of the indigenous vegetation they are mostly fantastic. The most common decorations of this kind represent the foliation of water plants (fig. 20), which also occur combined with acanthus stems (fig. 22) or with other leaves, and set with pearls (fig. 21). Indigenous plants were first generally adopted in the 13th century. Among those most frequently met with are the ivy (pl. 38, fig. 2); the wild vine (fig. 3); the grape vine (fig. 4); the cinque-foil and the oak (fig. 5); and even the cabbage (fig. 6). One of the prettiest fantastic foliated capitals is composed of long, many-lobed leaves, overlapping at the top, and forming small volutes. Among the flowers met with on capitals the principal ones are the rose (figs. 7, 8) and a fantastic flower (fig. 9). Small capitals of the 13th century have usually projecting foliated volutes at the corners, to which in the 14th century a row of leaves was added (fig. 14). In the 15th century the foliated decorations were meagre and stiff, but in the 16th century they again approached the forms of classic antiquity. The capitals of the 11th century appear nearly all smooth, with here and there a few rudely hewn pedicles. In the 12th century they are of a more elegant style and of a nobler form. In the 13th century, the decline of art is perceptible also in the capitals, which are overloaded with leaves and knobs (fig. 10). In the 14th century the capitals have two rows of deeply lobed leaves, and the abacus is round or polygonal instead of quadrangular. In the 16th century, finally, the capitals are entirely without gracefulness or richness. The Corinthian abacus (fig. 11) was changed considerably, and finally made so thick, that it appeared to crush the capital instead of decorating it.
Apertures or interruptions in the walls, whether they be windows, doors, or only niches or recesses, are closed above in various ways; either by two straight oblique lines, the sides of a triangle, meeting over the centre of the aperture (fig. 12), or by gradually narrowing courses of stone, a straight line forming the top (fig. 14), or by a curved line or arch. An arch need not be complete; the one-sided or ascending arch is on the contrary very frequent in the German style, employed to connect a lower outer wall with a higher uninterrupted inner wall (fig. 13), and serving instead of a buttress to the latter. Complete arches appear in the middle ages in a great variety of forms. If the arch be a true arc, i. e. described from a single centre, it can have four different shapes:
Less than a semicircle, or the flat arch (fig. 15).
A full semicircle, or the Romanesque arch (fig. 16).
More than a semicircle, or the Moorish arch (fig. 17).
A semicircle whose centre lies above the level of the imposts, or the overtopped arch (pl. 36, fig. 2).
The centre may be often considerably above that level when, for instance, the arches of intercolumniations or apertures of different width are to have their keystones in a horizontal line without giving up the strictly semicircular arch. The overtopping will then be in proportion to the decrease in width. A variety of the semicircular arch is the trefoil arch, which is formed by three semicircles intersecting each other and producing two points (pl. 38, fig. 18). This construction is very frequent in Germany and England. The three first named varieties of the semicircular arch appear together in the 11th century, the fourth exclusively in the 12th, whilst the trefoil arch is represented at all times from the 11th to the 16th century.
The simple pointed arch, the characteristic one of the present period, is of seven different forms, five of which belong to the 12th century, two exclusively to the 15th. The first and oldest form is composed of two arcs whose centres are but slightly removed to both sides from the centre of the intercolumniation (pl. 38, fig. 19). Immediately afterwards appeared the second form, which is very high and pointed, the centres of the component arcs lying far beyond the sides of the arch (pl. 36, fig. 3). The next form is that of the most beautiful and regular pointed arches. It is called the equilateral arch, the centres of the arcs being in the springings of the arch (fig. 4). The fourth form is the lancehead arch, which is constructed from the same centres, but the arcs are extended below through the level of the centres (fig. 5). The fifth form is the overtopped arch, whose curves are also described from the same centres as in the two last, whilst the extensions below their levels are in straight lines (fig. 6). This arch is employed in the same cases as the overtopped semicircular arch. The two forms belonging to the 15th century are:
The prolonged pointed arch (fig. 7[a]). The curves forming the sides of this arch are composed of two arcs, the lower one described from the opposite springing as centre; the upper one from a centre a little distant from the centre of the intercolumniation.
The counter arch, whose arcs are below the level of their centres, each of which is on the same side of the arch as the arc to which it belongs (fig. 8). This arch occurs frequently in English architecture. The trefoil arch occurs also in the pointed style in the 11th and 12th centuries; afterwards much corrupted; and in the 15th century in England and France in the flowing or flamboyant style.
The ass's-back arch, which is called Tudor arch when it is very flat, has sides composed of two arcs, but differs from the prolonged pointed arch in this, that the centre of the upper arc is above the arch as in the counter arch, whilst that of the lower is below the arch, and the entire side consequently a wave line (fig. 9).
The basket arch (fig. 7b), which is a frequent form of our day, appears very flat in the middle ages, especially in France and England; more rarely in Germany, and then only in private dwellings. An example of this latter form is given in fig. 10. It is not to be confounded with the horizontal top with rounded corners (fig. 11), which is no arch proper, the corners only describing arcs of a very short radius. In the time of the renaissance (revival of architecture) pointed arches gradually disappear, superseded by flat, elliptical, and semicircular arches.
The decoration of the archivolts consists either in the introduction of stone of different colors (fig. 12), which was the prevalent manner of the Moorish and Byzantine styles; or they are moulded (fig. 13); or the stone wedges project more or less (fig. 14). An English mode of constructing the archivolt is curious, having a zigzag or toothed ornament (fig. 15). There are also lobed archivolts (fig. 16) or counter lobed (fig. 17). The latter were developed in the 15th century so as to exhibit the trefoil arch on a small scale (fig. 18) by prolonging and notching the points between the counter lobes.
The archivolt of the pointed arch was at first entirely simple, and at most received an astragal for decoration. Afterwards it was covered with mouldings, with a view of disguising their true dimensions, and giving them a lighter appearance. The first decorative construction was the combination of a socle, a scotia, and an astragal in front and behind, the two astragals lying close together (fig. 19). Subsequently a thin ridge was inserted between the two astragals (fig. 20), and finally the archivolts were profiled like the girt arches and cross-vault ridges (fig. 21).
The girt arches and cross-vault ridges always abut obliquely on their imposts. Owing to their limited width which never exceeds 8 inches, they are very simply profiled, mostly with sharp-edged astragals scotias, and socles. The rich mouldings were all laid in the archivolt, which was sometimes very elaborately decorated (fig. 23). This degree of embellishment was the result of gradual improvement from the simple astragal (fig. 24); the twisted astragal (fig. 25); the wave line astragal (fig. 26); the zigzag astragal (fig. 28); the chevron (fig. 27); and combinations of two or more of these various forms. Such were the counter chevrons (fig. 29), and all the different ornaments which we have represented in figs. 30–40. The keystone at the point of intersection of the various vaults constituting a cross-vault was frequently made to project some distance below the plane of the vaults, and decorated with great splendor (pl. 40, fig. 39).
VII. Plate 39: Cathedral of Rouen; Architectural Details of the Middle Ages
All these decorations reached their highest-point of perfection in the 13th century. They were then mostly borrowed from indigenous plants. The archivolts were often interrupted by trefoil arches and their upper edges decorated with erect foliage. In the 14th century the general jejuneness and monotony in decoration also affected the architectural mouldings; and in the 15th century the tasteful distribution of ornaments over the entire building was discontinued to make room for a meretricious decoration of single parts. Henceforth ornaments appear only on the outside of arches, doors, windows, and on the gables which were entirely covered. In these places and on the edges of the spires, decorative appendices, more or less tasteful, were made, consisting of leaves (pl. 39, fig. 1), flowers, dogs' heads, animal and human figures, &c.
Entablatures proper are not found in the pointed-arch style owing to the peculiar mode of construction which left no room for them. In the interior, only a cornice under the windows was retained, which varied in profile according to the individual taste of the architect. Some are found that approach the classic ages in noble simplicity. We have selected as an example a cornice from the cathedral at Avignon (fig. 2). On the exterior, cornices are more frequently employed as well at the gables as in the real or imitation interruptions that decorated the walls. These cornices were often supported by cornices (pl. 36, fig. 41) the shape of which was entirely matter of fancy; they are found from the simplest cubes to the most elaborate representations of animal or human figures. The cornices were also varied to suit personal taste and were sometimes exceedingly rich. This effect was, however, attained by introducing a greater number of members in the mouldings, rather than by a deviation from the simplicity which marks the style of decorating the cornices in this period (pl. 39, fig. 3). The recesses between pilasters were also closed above with two or more small arches resting on small consoles (fig. 4), which often had the form of human or animal heads or figures (fig. 5). In the absence of consoles the cornices of the small arches were made to run unintermptedly around the points between the arches, which in that case usually terminated in a flower.
In some churches horizontal decorations are found above the cornice, taking as it were the place of the architrave. They are either composed of burnt bricks exhibiting trefoil or quatrefoil recesses (fig. 6); or inscriptions chronicling some events or invoking the blessing of God upon the building; or else foliated work (fig. 7). These ornaments were also poorer in the 15th century (fig. 8); and in the 16th century they were frequently displaced by more or less happy attempts at imitating the antique entablature (fig. 9).
In the gables the arch decorations on consoles follow the slopes of the roof. The axis of the arch is perpendicular either to the slope (fig. 10) or to the horizon (fig. 11). The latter is considered better taste.
VII. Plate 40: Romanesque and Gothic Architecture
The roof commences over the cornice. It is either flat, or dome shaped, or a ridge roof The decorations at the upper walls are different for the different kinds of roof In the 13th and 14th centuries a gallery running all round the church was placed immediately below the roof. This gallery had a latticed or a decorated stone railing (fig. 13). Such were also placed at the edges of flat roofs. A similar latticed wall was also often placed as a decoration along the ridge of the roof, at first rather rude (fig. 12) but later more elegant, and in the 13th century superseded by gilt metal of elaborate workmanship (pl. 40, fig. 3). The edges of the roof frequently rested on consoles (pl. 39, fig. 14). This was especially the case with spire roofs which ascended very steeply. The decorations of the gables in the 11th and 12th centuries have still some affinities with the antique (pl. 40, fig. 5). In the succeeding century they are more like the earlier Byzantine (pl. 39, fig. 16), but in the prime of German architecture they are very tasteful (fig. 15). In this period little pyramidal turrets were placed at the foot of the gables on both sides.
The rain-gutters were arranged very cleverly in the middle ages and carefully lined with lead. Their spouts projected from the eaves in the shape of human or animal figures (pl. 40, fig. 4). Over them were the railings which we have mentioned, and which frequently were adorned with most beautiful circular rosettes or with lattice-work in the shape of trefoil arches over perpendicular compartments (pl. 39, fig. 17). These railings are always in accordance with the taste of their periods, so that a practised eye can from them determine the time when an edifice was finished. In some cases there are battlements with turrets at the corners (pl. 40, fig. 6) or machicolis (figs. 7, 8) instead of railings.
The walls were mostly very high and long, and especially in the prime of middle age architecture so thin that it became necessary to give them an outward support, partly in order to give them strength in proportion to their dimensions, in part to enable them to withstand the lateral pressure of the interior vaults. Buttresses were, therefore, employed as early as the Byzantine period. In the pointed-arch style buttresses and ascending arches were brought to the highest state of perfection. The first buttresses had but very little projection from the wall. They appeared almost like pilasters (pl. 34, figs. 35, 36) and at the corners like half-columns (pl. 39, fig. 18). These reinforcements of the wall generally were carried up as high as the base of the cornice, and this height was retained even after they were considered as distinct architectural members, and received a greater projection (pl. 34, fig. 37). They were sometimes made round with a little conical roof (pl. 40, fig. 10), or connected at the top by arches (pl. 39, fig. 20). As church architecture advanced and the height of the vaults in the interior was increased, the projection of the buttresses increased in proportion; but as the pressure in the upper parts was gradually less, the buttresses were made of steps of different projections (fig. 19). When subsequently gracefulness in the appearance of the edifices received greater attention cornices were laid round the buttresses; and they received little gables (pl. 34, fig. 38) sometimes with ridge-roofs (pl. 39, fig. 22). A still more increased height of the nave led to another and stronger reinforcement of the walls. The side aisles, which were usually much lower, were girt with buttresses strong enough for the walls of the main nave. These buttresses were carried up considerably higher than the walls of the side aisles, and one or more one-sided or ascending arches were sprung from them against the wall of the main nave (fig. 21).
The decoration of the buttress consisted of columns at the corners, and the main cornices led around them (fig. 23). Above the cornice was placed a solid quadrangular pillar with imitation lattice-work, gables, and pyramidal point (figs. 24, 26). The less projecting buttresses received only a ridge-roof whose gable was decorated (fig. 25). Heavy buttresses, decreasing stepwise, had the façade of every step decorated with imitation lattice-work which gave them a lighter appearance (fig. 27). Their tops were then-surmounted with solid pillars, whose front gables were supported by two small columns forming a niche between them in which a statue was placed. Sometimes, especially in England, a statue only was placed on the top of the buttress (fig. 28). Sometimes the buttresses had niches with gables from below upwards, this decoration being principally used on buttresses of towers (fig. 29). At the time of the renaissance all this elegant splendor disappeared, superseded at first by the rigid forms of the transition style, and then by the reversed consoles and other clumsy supports of the worst Italian style (fig. 30). In England polygonal buttresses are frequently met with surmounted by turrets with battlements, against which the ascending arches rest (fig. 31).
The windows that interrupt the walls of a church are either straight above, or arched, or entirely round. Their sides may be rectangular (pl. 40, fig. 11) or outwardly and inwardly oblique (fig. 12), or only inwardly oblique (fig. 13). The old basilicas have no windows in the apsis. At a later period the apsis had one or more, but always an odd number of windows. An even number only exceptionally occurs at a very late period. The great windows are properly a number of smaller ones packed into one frame, three or more lancet-windows being placed beside each other, and one or more foil or rosette windows above them or between their heads in order to fill out the arched cell of the vaulting, which then necessarily gave the whole group an arched outline; and this was indicated by an arched drip-mould or label. It then became desirable to lighten the irregular-shaped masses of stone left between the perforations, and this was done by piercing these masses or spandrils, and reducing the solid frame of each foil or rosette to an equal thickness all round, as if several such frames or rings were packed into one great arched opening, which henceforth was regarded as one window instead of several.
The oldest windows are generally round-arched and more or less simple, as shown in pl. 39, figs. 32–36. Coupled windows (fig. 37) occur only in the first centuries of the middle ages. Among the earliest packed windows were those represented in pl. 40, fig. 9, consisting of three round-arched windows, the central one of greater width, with a common arch sprung over them all. The first round windows are of the same age, and occur between the heads of two coupled windows (pl. 34, fig. 25), but never alone. At a later period large rosette windows occur alone in the principal façades of churches, divided by little columns set around the centre like wheel spokes, and connected by round or trefoil arches (pl. 39, fig. 38). In the pointed-arch style the rosette window is always surmounted by an arch, or at least a drip-mould.
The improvement of the windows in the pointed style was as gradual as that in the Romanesque and Byzantine. We first find them small and simple (pl. 40, fig. 14); then coupled (fig. 15); next coupled with a perforated foil rosette between their heads (fig. 16); then the same arrangement packed into a common arch resting on columns (pl. 39, fig. 40). The desire for greater ornament made the windows more and more complicated, and designing the patterns for windows became a special art, the art of tracery. One centre mullion not being found sufficient to admit of many variations of design, three, five, and even seven were introduced. The mullions are usually perpendicular up to the level of the springings of the arch, where they diverge into arches, curves, and flowing lines, enriched with foliations. Pl. 40, fig. 17, gives an example of a window with three mullions; pl. 39, fig. 41, with five; and fig. 42 with seven. The division of the heads of the arches in these examples is strictly geometrical; the principal groups are separate, and each has its own appropriate subdivisions and ornaments.
The strictly geometrical tracery was in the 15th century superseded by the less beautiful but more lively English leaf tracery (pl. 40, fig. 20), and the still more lively French flamboyant tracery (figs. 18, 19; and pl. 39, fig. 39). According to Garbett's Principles of Design in Architecture, the difference between the flamboyant and the English leaf tracery is, that while the upper ends of the English loops or leaves are round or simply pointed, i. e. with finial angles, the upper ends in France terminate, like the lower, in angles of contact (those formed by two curves that have a common tangent). It was necessary to the leafy effect that the lower angles should be tangential, but to the flame-like effect that the upper ones should be so, even if the lower were finite; and hence some examples of flamboyant tracery turned upside down form a kind of leaf tracery.
The English, however, adopted still another method which was less conducive to the aspiring expression, and which conducted them to a style less rich and certainly less varied than any of the other After-Gothic styles. This style is called the perpendicular. Erroneously supposing that an abundance of vertical lines would increase the Gothic character, the English were led to convert all the flowing lines of the window tracery into vertical ones, to omit the capitals of nearly all the smaller shafts or shaftlets, thus converting what had been blank arcades into mere panels, and then to multiply, diminish, and extend these panels with endless repetitions of vertical lines over every part of the interior, and in florid buildings even of the exterior. Examples of this style are given in pl. 39, fig. 43, and pl. 40, figs. 21, 22.
Rectangular windows occur only in dwelling-houses or below pointed-arch windows, except in some cases in the period from the 13th to the 15th century, where they take the place of the gallery near the roof. The older quadrangular windows have highly ornamental jambs and lintels under arches (fig. 23). When they are very wide the lintel is supported by a column in the centre (fig. 24), or the upper courses of the side walls project under the lintel, thus approaching the flat arch (fig. 25); when their width is greater than their height, they are divided by mullions connected by trefoil arches under the straight lintel (fig. 26).
A curious combination of the Romanesque and pointed arch is produced by two Romanesque arcades intertwined, which at their intersections produce pointed arches (fig. 27) which are perforated for windows, and have a very pleasing effect. Windows of this kind were of frequent occurrence in the 12th century, but in the subsequent centuries their places were occupied by apparent perforations in the pointed arches.
Rosette windows occur as late as the 15th century, but their strictly circular form was gradually abandoned for convex-sided triangles (fig. 28) or polygons, with strictly geometrical divisions. Such windows of the purest taste are very numerous in Germany.
In the pointed-arch style of architecture doorways are striking and important features, indicating in the character of the mouldings and ornaments the style and period of the edifice. They are located either in the centre of the more or less decorated façade, or in some other point of the exterior wall. Only the former claim our special attention, the latter being generally very subordinate in character. The principal doorway of a church is always of the character of its windows, except in some cases where the erection has been of very long duration, when occasionally a later architect has been sufficiently deficient in good taste to vary the style with a view to satisfy his own fancy or the taste of his own period. The doorways are mostly perspective portals, deep enough to form forehalls, as we have already seen (p. 148). If the portal is very wide it is subdivided by a pillar in the centre (pl. 39, fig. 44), which is mostly adorned with the statue of the tutelary saint of the church. The door wings seldom reach to the top of the arch, but end mostly in a horizontal line at the height of its springings, the head of the arch receiving a packed window or merely an indication of one in a profusion of sculpture. The greatest splendor of decoration prevails in the portals of the pointed-arch churches, as may be seen in the views of entire churches represented on pls. [34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39] and 41, of which we shall presently examine the details. The character of the sculptures found in and on the churches of this period will be described in that division of this work which is devoted to the Fine Arts.
As in the Romanesque style the apsis was the characteristic part of the church more or less decorated (pl. 40, figs. 29, 30), so in the pointed-arch style are the bell towers or spires. Their lower portion is usually a square elongated vertical building, or tower proper, which at a certain height passes into a circular or polygonal form, thence tapering off to a point, and forming a spire or steeple. In the absence of the tapering part they are called towers, otherwise spires or steeples. The bells are usually hung at the upper extremity of the tower below the commencement of the pyramidal part, and their position is exteriorly marked by the belfry window or other aperture for the escape of the sound. One of the oldest structures of this kind is the spire of St. Ainay's church in Lyons (pl. 40, fig. 31). A beautiful example of towers proper is afforded in the cathedral of York (pl. 38, fig. 20). Among the spires various kinds are distinguished according to their shape. Among them are the pyramidal, whose reduction to a point is step-wise, as in the Minster of Strasburg (pl. 36, fig. 42), the arrow-headed, whose reduction is in straight lines from the substructure to the point (pl. 34, fig. 39; and pl. 40, fig. 33); the needle-shaped, whose square substructure abruptly contracts into an octagon, the spire rising thence like the arrow-headed (pl. 40, fig. 35); the dome-shaped, whose corners are convex lines (fig. 34). Gable towers have no steeples, but framework roofs with two or four gables, and covered with tiles or slate (fig. 36). In conclusion we mention the arch towers which occur frequently on village churches. They are solid structures with several arched perforations in one of which the bell is hung (fig. 37).
The decoration of the towers in the 11th and 12th centuries consisted mostly of arcades arranged in different tiers above each other, and exhibiting principally the round arch. If the width of the arches was very great it was subdivided by subordinate arcades. The ornaments of the arches and their imposts, columns, consoles, archivolts, &c., were often exceedingly rich and always remarkable for unity of style to the minutest details. In the thirteenth century the round arches gave way for the pointed, and the towers had only one tier of arcades of great height, with deep perspective archivolts decorated with columns. In this century we find the first pyramidal stone roofs on towers, multifariously perforated with rosettes and foils. In the fourteenth century the mullions of the belfry windows are reduced to one, and the spaces filled out with sound-boards (pl. 40, fig. 32). On the other hand new decorations are introduced on the columns, arches, and gutter-spouts, giving the towers a much richer appearance. In the 15th century towers commence to be built of several stories of gradually reduced circumference, and richly decorated with buttresses, ascending arches, crowning flowers, &c., and harmonizing in surpassing splendor with the style of the churches to which they belong. Fig. 38a represents the upper part of such a tower. The workmanship is exquisite, but the arrangement of the ornaments already denotes a grievous deviation from a natural perfection, as is more clearly seen from fig. 38b representing a massive turret placed on a very slender column.
The pointed-arch style is generally designated as the Gothic style. With much more truth and propriety it might be called the German style as has been proposed by Goethe, for it originated in Germany and has in its characteristics nothing in common with the older styles that we have examined in the preceding pages, and least of all with the real Gothic style which originated in Italy during the supremacy of the Goths in that country under Theodoric. The prominent original features of the German style are:
The construction of cross-vaults whose ribs alone are of freestone, grouped in the greatest variety of forms, the spaces between them being filled up with bricks not more than four to eight inches in size.
The pointed arch over windows and doors.
The connexion of pillars and columns in the interior by pointed arches.
The extremely high naves and remarkably slender columns and pillars that support their crossvault ceilings.
The profusely decorated perspective portals.
The highly finished perforated work in the high spires.
The proportionately thin walls of exquisite masonry, strengthened by buttresses at the points of lateral pressure of interior vaults.
The oldest monuments of this style date from the 10th century, and are found in the very heart of Germany between the Eister and Saale Eivers, near the Elbe, where it would be absurd to suppose Romanesque, Byzantine, or Moorish infiuence, when the vast tracts of land that separate their site from the homes of these latter styles remained entirely unaffected, and had no buildings in the so-colled Gothic, properly German pointed arch style until a century later. The fact that the church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Zeitz, dedicated in the year 974; the cathedral of Meissen, commenced in 948; the cathedral of Merseburg, commenced in 968yand others which are in the purest pointed-arch style, are much older than any edifice of this style in Erance, England, Italy, and even in the rest of Germany, seems conclusively to prove that the pointed-arch style was invented and first employed in Saxony. It is therefore purely German, and it is a misnomer to call it Gothic.
Having thus given an outline of the progress and development of Architecture during the period of the pointed-arch style we offer in conclusion a short description of the most prominent of its monuments.
1. The Minister of Freyburg in Baden. (Pl. 35, fig. 16, plan; fig. 17, view). This remarkable church was commenced in the year 1122. Its construction was prosecuted with great zeal on the part of the princes and citizens, the latter mortgaging their property in order to raise money for the church. In the year 1146 it was so far completed that Bernard de Clairvaux could preach In it and exhort the people to join in the crusade. The edifice then, however, only comprised the tower a, the nave b, with the side aisles c c, and the transept d, to the small tower d. The spire was finished in the 13th century. The choir e, with the gallery f, was commenced in 1314, and finished in 1513 by John Niesenberger of Gratz. Erwin von Steinbach, the architect of the Minster of Strasburg, was also for some time engaged in superintending the Freyburg building. The transept appears to be the oldest part of the church since it exhibits a mixture of the Byzantine and German styles, whilst the rest of the building is in the purest German style. The width of the nave is 27 feet, that of the side aisles 20 feet. The ceilings are simple cross-vaults resting on columns 7 feet thick. The walls without the buttresses are only 6 feet thick. The choir is closed on three sides and has cross-vault ceilings with very artificially distributed ribs. Its length is 157 feet; that of the nave 175 feet. The fa9ade has a beautiful perspective portal (1), 30 feet in width, lying between pillars of 8 feet thickness and 13 feet projection, and profusely decorated with columns, arches, and a gable with fine sculptures. The fore hall a is also rich in architectural ornaments and sculptures. The inner doorway (2) has a central pillar decorated with a statue of St. Mary. The vault of the fore hall is 42 feet high. The tower is square up to the first gallery; thence twelve-cornered; and finally eight-cornered up to the base of the pyramid which is six-sided and rises, without nucleus and with beautifully perforated walls, a pattern of the most exquisite architectural construction. Its extreme height including the substructure is 372\(\frac{1}{2}\) feet. The height of the nave is 82\(\frac{1}{4}\) feet, and the choir has the same height, but it appears higher exteriorly as it is elevated by a number of steps above the floor of the nave. A number of chapels, e, are grouped around the choir. The cross-arms have each a portal surmounted by perforated pyramids, and the richly decorated buttresses of the side aisles are connected with the upper wall of the main nave by ascending arches which strengthen it. The south side is very rich in sculptures, and all the windows contain most beautiful glass paintings. The pulpit is of stone, and a masterpiece of sculpture by George Kempt.
2. The Minster of Strasburg (pl. 36, fig. 42, view from northwest). This edifice is one of the most precious monuments of German architecture. The entire structure is of a hard white freestone, slightly tinged with red. Its extreme length is 343 feet 4 inches, in the clear 314 feet. It, has three aisles of an aggregate width in the clear of 114 feet, 6 inches. The transept is 173 feet, 8 inches long, by a width of 44 feet, 7 inches. The nave is 42 feet, 4 inches wide, and 95 feet, 5 inches high. The twelve clustered pillars which separate it from the side aisles have a thickness of 7 feet, 4 inches; their inner cylinder is 5 feet, 3 inches in diameter. The side aisles are 24 feet, 11 inches wide, by a height of 43 feet. The tower façade is 159 feet, 6 inches wide. The side walls are only 3 feet, 8 inches thick, with buttresses 4 feet, 4 inches broad, and projecting 8 feet, 6 inches. There are two side chapels, 51 and 56 feet in length, attached to the side aisles. These chapels have artificially distributed vaulting ribs, whilst the other ceilings are simple cross-vaults with caps 8–9 inches thick. The western side of the interior has beautiful German ornaments among which two rosettes are prominent, the one with apparent perforations, the other a true lattice window 51 feet in diameter. The intersection of the nave and. transept is surmounted by a dome. The choir, which belongs to the oldest part of the church, has been restored in inferior style. This oldest portion, which embraces also the cross-arms with the exception of the northern portal, which is of later date, is built in the Byzantine style. Under the choir is a subterranean church, and 21 feet below the latter is the foundation sole of the minster, being a layer of clay 3 feet thick on closely driven piles. Near one of the chapels is a small court containing a stone cube with the epitaphs of Erwin von Steinbach (d. 1318), the architect of the spire and of his wife and son. The tower was commenced in 1277. Its height to the platform where the warder lodges, is 205 feet from the floor of the church. Thence rises the northern tower. The southern was never built. This part of the structure is a quadrangle with truncated corners, 113 feet, 6 inches high, and containing the belfry and spiral stairs. From its top rises the spire proper, a pyramid 121 feet, 6 inches high. The total height of this spire is, therefore, 442 feet. It is the highest finished spire in Europe. The spires for the cathedral of Cologne were designed to be 532 feet high, that of the minster of Ulm 452 feet, 6 inches, but they were not completed. The upper pyramid of the Strasburg spire is octagonal and reduced stepwise to a point. It is of the most exquisite workmanship, and built according to the highest principles of stone-dressing. The gallery below the cross forms a sort of crown to the spire. The spire was executed under the superintendence of the architect John Hültz, and its every detail commands the admiration of architects in point of construction.
The southern portal is in the Byzantine style. It is decorated with sculptures representing figures from the Old and New Testaments and others distinguished by tasteful composition and beautiful execution. They are newer than the portal itself, and are principally works of Sabina von Steinbach, daughter of the architect. This portal formed the conclusion of the oldest portion of the church, which was all finished in the year 1002. The outer walls of the new naves were finished by bishop Wernher in 1028. It is in the pointed-arch style of much lower dimensions than were afterwards in vogue. The vaulting of the nave and side aisles was not completed before 1050. Erwin von Steinbach constructed the ascending arches to the walls of the main nave and built the tower to the height of the ridge of the nave. After his death his son John carried it up to the platform. He was followed by John Hültz of Cologne, who commenced the northern spire and built a piece of the southern, which was subsequently taken down. Conrad Frankenberger was the next architect. He worked at the northern spire for the first four or five years of the 15th century. Finally John Hültz, grandson of the above mentioned Hültz, finished the pyramid in the year 1439. The stone pulpit is of exquisite workmanship and was wrought by Hammerer in the year 1485.
3. The Cathedral of Cologne. No building has been so much discussed in public prints and special books as the cathedral of Cologne. It has the greatest claim to the special attention of architects, on the one hand by the merit of its grand and harmonious ground plan, and on the other because its architectural forms and ornaments are so many witnesses of the prime of the pointed-arch style. Pl. 34, fig. 40, gives a view of this building as it is intended to be when completed. Six hundred years have elapsed since it was commenced, but no part of the grand structure is entirely finished. In the beginning of the present century many of the finished parts showed serious marks of decay, and it became a point of pride in all the German nation to prevent the ruin of this cathedral, and if possible to complete it. In 1824 the Prussian government decreed an annual contribution of $10,000; a light cathedral tax was created, to which every man had to bring his mite; extensive private collections were made, and numerous presents and bequests sent to the cathedral. The king of Bavaria set the example of having certain parts of the building finished at his own expense, and several other princes and associations followed it. The work was then commenced in good earnest, and has been carried on ever since. The restoration of dilapidated parts and the new parts are being made strictly in the spirit and according to the designs of the first architect. Fortunately the original plans still exist, so that no room has been left for mistakes by erroneous conclusions. But the astonishing elaboration of ornament makes progress very slow. There is hardly a stone laid in the building that has not on one or more of its faces highly finished stone-dresser's or sculptor's work. The progress of decay has, however, been effectually arrested, and considerable work has been done towards the perfection of the cross-arms with their magnificent portals. The side aisles have been furnished with painted-glass windows of the highest artistic value, presents of the king of Bavaria, representing the birth of Christ, the Evangelists, and other subjects illustrating the Scriptures. The main front where the two spires are to be reared is still pretty much in its dilapidated condition. The northern tower is only 10 or 15 feet out of the ground; the grand portal between the two towers is not even commenced; and only the southern tower is carried up two stories and a half to about the height of the projected peak of the centre gable, which is to have the height of the main nave. On this tower stands the token of Cologne, a huge unwieldy wooden crane, used for raising the blocks of stone to their proper places. In the course of centuries the inhabitants of Cologne had become so strongly attached to this crane, that they replaced the old time-worn one in 1826 by a new one, at an expense of nearly $20,000, although the final completion of the edifice would have been much more furthered had this sum been judiciously expended in some other part of the building. The entrance to the church, at present, is through the side portal in this tower leading into the southern side aisle.
The construction of the church was commenced in the year 1248, when the archbishop Conrad of Hochstedten laid the corner-stone on the eve of St. Mary's day. The plans are ascribed by some to Gerhard of St. Trond who appears in the accounts as a master stone-cutter: by others, to Albertus Magnus, Dominican monk, and subsequently bishop of Ratisbon. The latter conjecture seems to have the greater probability, for the thoroughly digested plans would appear to be beyond the conception of a mere stone-cutter, whilst Albertns Magnus is known to have been the designer of the magnificent cathedral in Ratisbon. Archbishop Conrad died in 1261, and the city of Cologne was under the curse of the papal anathema for a number of years. The construction was therefore interrupted until 1305, when it was taken up again. In 1320 the choir was consecrated for church service. Since then down to 1824 very little has been done to the edifice, which thus has been exposed for five hundred years in an unfinished state to the inclemency of a wet climate. As it stands now, it might be completed in a comparatively short space of time, if there were unity of action and a wise concentration of means; but the political state of Germany, weakened as it is both in moral and material strength, leaves very little room for hope that more will be done hereafter than has been done for the last twenty years; and, although the pious spirit in which the work is conducted commands the most unqualified appreciation, the rate of progress excludes all belief of its ever being brought to an end.
VII. Plate 41: Scenes and Details of Gothic Cathedrals and Abbeys
In the arrangement of the ground plan the number of seven seems to have constituted the leading idea. Seven columns line each side of the main and side entrances. Seven pedestals for statues are on either side of the fore-hall. The southern tower has fourteen corner canopies. Seven pairs of columns on either side separate the fine aisle of the church to the foot of the high choir. The latter contains also seven pairs of columns, and is surrounded by seven chapels. The entire church has fifty-six free columns and twenty-eight pilasters. All the dimensions are also resolvable by the number of seven. The height in the clear of the high choir is 161 feet, equal to that of the width of the church. The western portal is 231 feet wide, equal to the projected height of the gable. The projected height of the spire is 532 feet, equal to the entire length of the church, including the buttresses and the fliers. The height of the side aisles in the clear is 70 feet; the width of the cross-arms, which have three aisles, 105 feet; the depth of the fore-hall 56 feet, &c. It would probably be easy to trace the combination of seven into the most minute details of the ornaments. These are arranged in the purest taste, and executed with surpassing skill. We have copied a number of them on (pl. 41; figs. 1–4 are capitals from the columns placed in front of the principal pillars; fig. 5, a capital from a pilaster; figs. 6–8, ornaments from different galleries; figs. 9, 10, medallions from keystones of vaults; figs. 11, 12, water-spouts. The walls of the side aisles are 4 feet 8 inches thick, and reinforced by buttresses of 11 feet projection by 8 feet breadth. According to the plans, double ascending arches are to be sprung from these buttresses to the higher walls of the main nave, which are to be erected on the pointed arches connecting the main pillars lining the nave. The entire church covers an area of 69,000 square feet. In size it is the ninth Christian church. It is to St. Peter's in Rome as 1: 2.866. Its foundations are more than 40 feet deep. At present, about one third of the masonry is completed, if we include the projected spires in the calculation.
4. St. Stephen's Church in Vienna. The first Duke of Austria, Henry Jasomirgott, laid the comer stone of St. Stephen's church in the year 1144 or 1147 (the chronicle being illegible) on the site of an old chapel. The design was made by Bishop Reginbert, of Passau, and the construction conducted by the architect Octavianus Wolzner, of Cracow. Of the original edifice nothing remains but the walls of the central nave and the western façade, with the gigantic portal in the Romanesque style. All the lower part of the western front shows the perfect Romanesque style, whilst the pyramids of the towers exhibit the beginnings of the pointed-arch style. In the years 1258 and 1275 the church suffered considerably by conflagrations, but was repaired as early as 1278, when the Emperor Rudolph I., of Hapsburg, celebrated in it his thanksgiving for his victory over Ottokar of Bohemia. The re-edification and enlargement of the church in the pure pointed-arch style was completed by Anthony Pilgram, in 1313, by the designs of Bishop Peter of Passau, or rather of Parson Bernhard Brambeck, who subsequently became Bishop of Passau. The vaults of the nave and side aisles, as they now stand (pl. 37, fig. 25), date only from 1574; the previous ones had no artificial ribs. The high choir was finished in 1839, by Duke Albert, with money raised by a tax of two cents on every subject. The designs for the spires on the cross-arms were made by the architect Hauser, of Kloster-Neuburg. A second Anthony Pilgram conducted the building in 1400, and completed the southern spire in 1433. The northern tower was in 1511 carried to the height of the church roof (145\(\frac{1}{2}\) feet) by John Buxbaum. In 1514 the spire was struck by lightning, and inclined considerably to one side. It was righted in five years by the architect Leonhardt. Subsequently it settled again about three feet to the north-east. In the years 1839-1842 about 70 feet of its top were taken down, re-erected perpendicularly, and crowned with a gigantic flower, embossed of sheet iron. Its extreme height is 428 feet 8 inches. The length of the church is 321 feet. The main nave between the pillars, which are 8 feet thick, is 29 feet wide; the side aisles 25 feet. The height in the clear of the central vaults varies from 76 to 85 feet. Its area is 46,866 square feet. It is to St. Peter's in Rome as 1 : 4.14. The spire is one of the most daring structures, its height being to its area as 9.5 : 1, and its lower walls only 8 feet 10 inches thick. The foundations of the church are said to rest on huge subterranean vaults five stories deep, the three lowest of which are never opened, whilst the two uppermost ones serve as sepulchral vaults, in which bodies do not decay but dry up. The corpses are deposited in chambers between pillars, which are walled up as soon as they are filled. Between these chambers galleries lead to the imperial vault in the centre, where since Ferdinand II. the intestines of the royal family are deposited in copper urns, their hearts being deposited in the chapel of Loretto, in St. Augustin's church, and their bodies in the church of the Capuchins.
5. The Cathedral of Magdeburg. This edifice was commenced as early as 963 by Emperor Otho I., in the favorite city of his empress Edith, who was also buried in this church. This cathedral was a masterpiece of architecture in the pure Byzantine style. It was entirely destroyed by fire in 1207, nothing remaining but the walls of the high choir, which were made use of in the re-edification which had commenced already in 1208, after the designs of the architect Bohnensack. Pl. 41, fig. 13, represents its ground plan. fig. 14 gives a front view of the edifice from the north-west side. It is in the purest German pointed-arch style. It was finished in little over 150 years, being consecrated in the year 1363. Its length in the clear is 288 feet. The vaults of the main nave, which rest on 22 columns connected by pointed arches, are 106 feet high, those of the side aisles 30 feet 8 inches. The choir contains several statues and porphyry columns said to have been sent from Italy, and to have belonged to the old building. The church is one of the finest edifices in northern Germany, and of high value for the study of the architecture of the middle ages, being one of the few works of those times that are entirely finished. It suffered to some extent during the several sieges of Magdeburg in the Thirty Years' War, when especially the southern spire lost its crowning flower and suffered considerable damage to its interior decoration. In the year 1826 it was repaired by order of the King of Prussia, strictly in the style of the first design, and the church has now a noble appearance both exteriorly and interiorly. The façade of the towers, with the magnificent portal between them, is admirably composed. The fore hall contains the bronze monument to archbishop Ernest of Magdeburg, cast by Peter Vischer of Nürnberg, when the archbishop was still in life. At the beginning of the northern cross-arm is a remarkable parabolic vault with horizontal joints, constructed very much like the treasury of Atreus in Mycenæ (p. 34 and pl. 8, fig. 8). In the transept is a beautiful chapel forming half a dodecagon, whose flat ceiling rests on perforated girt arches.
6. The Church of St. Michael and St. Gudula in Brussels was commenced in 1047 and enlarged in 1295. It is built throughout in the purest German style. Pl. 37, fig. 23. gives the western view of the church. It has three portals leading into the three aisles, the central one of which is 130 feet high and 34 feet wide, its vaults resting on 12 round columns four feet in diameter, in front of which stand the statues of the twelve apostles. The side aisles are 50 feet high and 20 feet 6 inches wide, including the chapels. The choir is about 86 feet high and lined with round columns. Over the intersection of the nave and transept is a pointed wooden spire. The upper walls of the main nave rest on the pointed arches that connect the columns, and are secured from without by double rows of ascending arches, sprung from the outer buttresses over the side aisles. The choir has no such ascending arches, being much lower than the nave. The choir is ornamented by ten broad windows, more than 50 feet high, and decorated with highly finished glass-paintings. It has also 20 attached chapels. The interior of the church is magnificent. The main front, however, is incomplete, the towers having been left without their spires, and although of the same height, both unfinished at the top.
7. The Cathedral of Antwerp (pl. 37, fig. 24, western view) was first built in the 13th century, and dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It was destroyed by a conflagration, only the choir and the façade of the towers being saved. The new nave was built in 1422 by John Amel on the old foundation. It is 490 feet long, 228 feet broad, and 154 feet in the clear, and is one of the most beautiful structures in the Netherlands. The vault over the intersection of the nave and transept supports a beautiful dome with a wooden cap. The new choir was not commenced before 1521, when Charles V. laid the corner stone. The portal and the northern spire were finished in the year 1518, whilst the construction of the southern tower was interrupted as early as 1515. The northern spire is 447 feet high, with a cross of 15 feet in height, and is by many preferred to the spire of the Minster of Strasburg. The unity of style in the latter gives it, however, a decidedly greater merit, the upper part of the spire of Antwerp deviating from the pure pointed-arch construction. Upon the whole the western façade exhibits too much of the meretricious ornament of the 16th century to be ranked with the Minster of Strasburg, whose entire ornaments are purely constructive and therefore true.
The ground plan of the cathedral of Antwerp is in the form of the Latin cross. The width of the church is divided into seven aisles, the central one of which is 31 feet in the clear. Its pillars are 5 feet 6 inches thick. The first side aisles north and south are 19 feet wide, with pillars 3 feet 7\(\frac{1}{2}\) inches thick; the second ones are 12 feet 2 inches wide, with pillars of 5 feet 1 inch in diameter, on which rest also the vaults of the northernmost aisle, 21 feet 8 inches wide, and of the southernmost aisle which is 27 feet wide.
8. The Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, is one of the most remarkable edifices in France both in point of design and of execution. Its corner stone was laid in the year 1163 by Pope Alexander III., and the choir with its gallery was finished as early as 1177. In the year 1183 the vaults of the main nave were closed and the main altar was dedicated; and three years later the choir was devoted to public worship. So far the church is in the Romanesque style, and the Romanesque pedestals for the columns in the naves and transept indicate that these parts were commenced by the same builders.
At the time of St. Louis's advent to the throne of France (1226) the nave and side aisle were already considerably advanced. The two towers, however, and the middle building which they flank, belong to the last quarter of the 13th century. The southern portal was commenced in the year 1257, together with the northern and the chapels around the choir. The entire process of construction lasted 170 years.
The ground plan of this cathedral is given in pl. 40, fig. 1, and fig. 40 is an interior view of the same. It is in the form of a Latin cross, and has five, aisles whose vaults rest on seventy-five columns. Its length is 390 feet by a width of 144, and a height in the clear of 102 feet. It has two square towers, which are only 204 feet high, having flat roofs at the height where the pyramidal spires ought to have commenced. The columns in the centre aisles are surmounted by pointed and those of the choir by round arches, on which rest the upper walls of the main nave. These walls are interrupted by the arcades opening from the galleries over the inner side aisles. The windows through which the main nave is lighted are above these galleries. The church has the total number of one hundred and thirteen large side windows, and three large rosettes over the three western portals. The greater proportion of these windows are adorned with fine glass-paintings.
9. The Abbey of St. Denis. The church of St. Genevieve belonging to the Abbey of St, Denis was built in the Byzantine style in the year 628–630. It fell down in 1160. It was re-erected in the pointed-arch style by Abbot Suger in the years 1251–1281, who had designed the plans himself, being an expert in all the fine arts. The crypt under the old choir, which is the sepulchre of the Kings of France, was retained unchanged (pl. 41, fig. 18). It is in pure Byzantine style, its vaults resting partly on thick columns, in part on square pillars. At the time of the first French revolution it contained the remains of twenty-five kings, ten queens, and eighty-four princes and princesses, which were disturbed by the mob and buried in the neighboring churchyard. Louis XVIII. caused the chapel to be re-consecrated. In his restoration of the monuments, the old statues were laid on the corners of the sarcophagi instead of being left standing near them as before. The upper church is not very remarkable, and does not claim special notice more than a thousand other buildings in the same style.
10. The Cathedral of Rouen. Another remarkable church in France is the Cathedral of Notre Dame at Rouen, also called the church of St. Ouen from the bishop of the same name. Plate 39, fig. 45, gives the view of the chief portal, with the market-place in front. It is built in the German style and is cruciform. Its extreme length is 390 feet, the inner 366, that of the transept 162, the breadth of the main aisle 27 feet 9 inches between the clustered columns, which are 6 feet 7 inches to 7 feet 4 inches thick, and stand 9 feet 7 inches apart. The width of the middle space between the four chief pillars, which are 12 feet 6 inches thick, is 21 feet 7 inches. The fourteen round columns of the choir are 3\(\frac{1}{2}\) feet thick and 36 feet high, and the height of the main aisle and the choir is 84 feet; that of its gallery and of the side aisles is 52 feet. In the nave there are two rows of arcades, one above another, although there is but one side aisle on each side, and a side gallery stands also in the choir under the high windows.
On the western front, which has three portals perspectively arranged, and which is ornamented with fine sculptures, and whose middle portal is crowned with a handsome gable, stand two towers 230 feet high. Over the middle portal is a great rosette, which is represented in fig. 39, and contains very handsome painted glass. Formerly the church had another tower over the cross, which was destroyed by fire in the year 1822. It was replaced by an iron spire 276 feet high. The transept has two portals. The southern one is perspectively arranged and is crowned with a pointed, pierced gable, over which is a great rosette, over which again stands a gable which leans against the buttresses. The northern portal has two buttresses in the form of towers, and also a rosette crowned with a beautiful gable.
Besides these three great rosettes, the church has 130 windows, of which, however, only those in the high choir and in one chapel have painted glass. From the exterior buttresses, ending in tasteful pyramids, ascending arches are sprung to the buttresses of the main aisle, the prolongation of the clustered columns of the interior. These buttresses rise with their rich pyramids above half the height of the roof Galleries extend around the roof.
In Rouen the Gospel was first preached in the year 260, by the English missionary, Melon, and in 260 a church was erected upon the site of the present cathedral. It was renewed in the year 400 and beautified in the middle of the 7th century by the Bishop St. Ouen, but was destroyed by the Normans. When their Duke, however, was baptized he rebuilt the church, which the son of the third Duke, Robert, Archbishop of Rouen, enlarged. The side aisles were added in J 050 and completed in 1068. In the year 1200, when Rouen was destroyed by fire, the church also suffered, and only the Tinder part of the walls remained standing, upon which the present church was erected in the pointed-arch style. The western front was commenced in the 13th century. The architect of the three portals was a German, Ingeram, who also enlarged the eastern chapel, and in 1280 erected the perforated gable over the portals. The northern portal was completed in 1478, and three years afterwards the court before it, which exhibits much of the Arabian form. The upper part of the northern tower was built in 1468–77, the southern 1496–1507.
11. The Cathedral of Milan. No building indicates more clearly than the Milan cathedral the position occupied in Italy by the Germans during the middle ages. The sketch was made by Henry Arter of Gemünd, who had gone to Bologna and was there called Enrico da Gamondia. His son, Peter Arter, under the name of Pietro da Bologna, directed the building of St. Vitus's church in Prague, and his father sketched the plan for the Minster in Ulm. Upon the site of the present Milan cathedral stood a splendid church, with a bell tower 448 feet high, which Frederick I. caused to be destroyed. In 1386 the corner-stone of a new church was laid under Galeazzo Visconti; but it was too small, and in place of it, in 1391, the building was commenced from the sketch of Henry of Gemünd. When Henry returned to Germany, Italians were elected architects; but as the work reached the dome and the pyramids, the Italians were again at fault, and Duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza wrote in 1486 to the building guild of Strasburg for a German architect. Hans Niesenberger, of Gratz, who since 1471 had superintended the building of the Freyburg Minster, went to Milan, accompanied by his son John and German workmen. He appeared there usder the name of Giovanni da Gratz, Ingenere di Allemania. He arranged matters there and returned to Germany, while Francesco di Giorgia da Siena, Antonio Omodeo, and Jacopo Dalzebono undertook the execution of the German design. Besides those already mentioned, the following Germans had assisted in the work: John Anex von Fernach, Ulrich von Frisingen from Ulm, and Jacob Cova from Bruges. The cathedral itself was only gradually completed, and after a great number of architects had worked upon it, the point upon the pyramid over the dome was finally placed by Francesco Croce in 1762–72. On the 16th of August, 1806, the architect Amati received the command of the Emperor Napoleon to complete the façade and to cover the cathedral itself with white marble. It is not entirely completed even now.
Pl. 40, fig. 2, shows the ground plan, and; pl. 38, fig. 21, the interior of this magnificent church. The length of the interior between the walls is 448 feet 6 inches, the wall of the choir is 6 feet, and with the piers 12 feet thick. The thickness of the front wall is 15 feet 8 inches, consequently the whole length is 476 feet 2 inches. The length of the transept is 283 feet, and the inner length of the nave 175 feet. Measured between the columns the main aisle is 52 feet 4 inches, and each of the side aisles 21 feet 7 inches. Of the 52 round columns in the interior of the church, 48 are 7 feet 6 inches through, and the middle ones 8 feet 7 inches. The height of the nave is 147 feet 9 inches, consequently 3 feet 9 inches greater than the height of St. Peter's, and it is the highest aisle in any existing church. The height of the inner side aisles is 97 feet, and that of the outer ones 75 feet 4 inches. The ribs of the vaults are of marble and are 8–12 inches thick; the caps are vaulted in brickwork and are 3–6 inches thick. The construction of the dome over the middle of the church is very remarkable. It rests upon the four middle piers and the arches uniting them, and is raised 201 feet 6 inches over the floor of the church. The lantern placed upon it is 34 feet high, and upon this rests the spire or the pyramid of 92 feet in height, upon which stands the statue of the Madonna, 12 feet high, so that the whole is 339 feet 6 inches high. This dome is 54 feet broad, 43 feet 10 inches high, and forms an oval with eight principal ribbed arches, whose caps are walled in brick. The exterior is richly ornamented with pyramids and pillars, many of which support statues. The cathedral was to have had portals in the cross-arms, but little chapels were introduced instead.
The western façade has five doors, of which the middle one is 15 feet 4 inches broad and 30 feet 8 inches high. The doors and the windows over them are arranged by Pellegrini in the Italian taste. Besides these, there are three large windows in the old German style on this façade. Between the doors and upon the corners, there are richly ornamented buttresses, which are crowned by pyramidal pillars reaching 66 feet above the eaves of the roof. Of these there are several hundred upon the church. The number of statues is estimated by some as high as 4500, and 3000 is certainly not an exaggerated estimate.
The effect of the interior is in the highest degree superb and wonderful, not only from the great size, but from the loftiness of the nave, the beautiful and naturally warm colors of the material, and the soft illumination through the great painted windows. The 52 clustered columns of the interior were to have had their capitals crowned with statues, but the figures are completed upon a few only, as our view shows.
The roof is striking; for in place of the former tile roofing, white marble slabs 1\(\frac{1}{2}\) to two inches thick have been laid upon little flat vaults, avoiding the necessity of rafters, and in fact there is no wood used in the building. The plates of the roof are jointed with a very compact water-proof cement. The cathedral has a crypt, which is 45 feet in diameter and 15 feet high, and is lighted from the church through openings in the vault.
12. The Church of St. Cyriacus in Ancona. As a specimen of this period, even if not of the purely pointed-arch style, we must mention the church of St. Cyriacus in Ancona, of which pl. 46, fig. 21, gives the ground plan, and fig. 22 the section. This church was commenced in the 11th century, and the ground plan forms a Grecian cross whose whole length is 155 feet, but the length of the transept extends, on account of the two apsides, to 182 feet. The central nave is 22 feet 6 inches wide, and 45 feet high; the whole church is 59 feet broad, but the transept only 57 feet. The height of the dome is 78 feet. The building itself is of the Byzantine style, and. was completed about the year 1290 by Marchiano, a pupil of Amolfo da Lapo. Many of the interior columns have antique Ionic capitals as pedestals, and their own capitals are of a meagre Corinthian style. Under both apsides there are little crypts. The points between the ribs of the dome are very peculiar, containing small arcades.
13. The Church of the Convent of St. Simon in Palermo. The capital of Sicily is rich in remarkable monuments of the middle asres, which, almost without exception, offer a peculiar blending of the Moorish with the German pointed-arch styles. From this fact some have ascribed the origin of the German style to the Moorish, but certainly very incorrectly, as all the buildings which show this mixed style date from the 14th and 15th centuries, and are consequently of much later date than the origin of the German style in Saxony. The blending of the two styles is perceptible, especially in the ornaments, many of which, as for example the Palatinal Chapel (bulk in the 15th century), are copied from the highly characteristic ornaments of Alhambra in Granada. On the other hand, it is shown in the overtopped pointed arches, which are not set upon clustered columns, but upon slender pillars whose capitals are rather projecting, whilst the vaults themselves are dome-shaped, rarely cross-vaults.
The arches, as well as the vaults, are rich with glowing paintings, often upon a gold ground, as are found also in Alhambra. The walls also are richly ornamented with stucco. In illustration we present an interior view of the church of St. Simon in Palermo (pl. 41, fig. 16). This church was built in the year 1449, and is distinguished by the beauty of its marble columns and the richness of its paintings.
14. The Cathedral of Burgos. This cathedral, of which pl. 38, fig. 22, represents the western view, is distinguished by its construction and the history of its erection. It was built by Ferdinand III., consequently in the first half of the 13th century, on the site of a mosque erected by Abdorhaman in 1014. Its length is 300 feet, and that of the transepts 212 feet. It is entirely in the German style, and divided into three aisles, the main aisle being supported by ascending arches, sprung from the side buttresses. The cross-arms have portals with large, finely ornamented rosettes, over which stands a gallery, between two buttresses crowned with pyramidal pillars. Upon the intersection of the transept with the nave stands an octagonal tower in the old German style, surrounded with pyramidal pillars. The western façade has on each side a tower 300 feet high, with perforated spires. These spires are formed by 8 ridges meeting under the halls, which are ornamented by crowning flowers, and they are bound together by 24 horizontal ribs, at various distances from each other. In respect of construction, these pyramids are most like the towers in Freyburg, in Baden, and those of the church of St. Mary in Esslingen, but they are very inferior in composition and elaboration. In the panels formed by these ribs stone cross-joints are introduced. The portal is perspectively arranged, and there is a round window over it, under a pointed arch. A round window is introduced below the spires on each side of the towers, which resembles the windows of some of the old Rhenish churches, the Bonn cathedral for instance. These towers were built soon after 1442 by the architect John of Cologne and his son Simon, whom the bishop had taken with him from their native country. Under Charles V. the transept of the church was repaired. The same two German architects built the charter-house Miraflores near Burgos.
15. The Minster at York. After the modern St. Paul's church in London, of which we shall presently speak, York Minster is the largest of English churches. Pl. 38, fig. 20, gives a view of its western front. With its three aisles and the transept divided into as many, it forms a Grecian cross. The exterior length from west to east is 578 feet. The central nave is 43 feet, 6 inches wide, between the clustered columns, which are 7 feet, 3 inches thick, and 27 feet high, and stand at distances of 20 feet. The side aisles are 20 feet, 6 inches wide. The cylinders of the two clustered columns supporting the towers, are 9 feet, 6 inches thick. The four great piers bearing the middle tower, which are surrounded by 27 half and three quarter columns, are 21 feet, 7 inches thick, and stand in the transept at distances of 27 feet. This transept is 45 feet wide, and its side aisles 20 feet. The choir is 44 feet, 6 inches wide between the piers, which are 7 feet, 9 inches thick. The thickness of the side walls is 4 feet, 9 inches, and the buttresses project from 6 to 9 feet long, and are 4 to 5 feet broad. The height of the nave is 92 feet, 6 inches, that of the side aisles 48 feet. The middle tower over the cross is 198 feet high from the church floor, and its walls are 6 feet, 9 inches thick. The light falls through its windows into the centre of the transept. The front towers, or the two westerly ones, are 172 feet high from the church floor to the highest gallery. The pyramidal pillars upon them, eight upon each tower, are 24 feet high. The great buttresses of the towers project 10 feet before the walls, and are 79 feet high. The walls are 8 feet thick. The point of the gable over the door is 35 feet, that of the front chief gable 100 feet, and the pyramids upon it 119 feet over the floor of the church. The main portal is 24 feet high, and 13 feet, 6 inches wide. The whole church is built of freestone and quarry-stone. A gallery extends quite round the church on the upper part of the side aisles and another around the eaves.
Beneath the choir is a crypt 40 feet long and 35 feet wide, divided into three parts by six columns 8 feet high. The cube-formed capitals of the columns support strong cross-vaults.
The history of the building of this church is the following. In 627, when Edwin, the Saxon king in Northumberland, was baptized at the instance of his wife Ethelburga, a wooden chapel was erected here, which was replaced in the year 642 by a stone church dedicated to the apostle Paul, but this was destroyed by Benda, the king of the Mercians. In 741 the bishop Alcuin built a new church upon this site and the building was already important. In 1069 it was injured by fire, and, scarcely rebuilt, was again in 1134 once more destroyed in the same manner. Archbishop Thurstan, therefore, built a new church in the Byzantine style, of which the crypt still exists. In the year 1227, the southern transept with a beautiful round window and portico was erected. John le Romayne, treasurer of the church, built the northern belfry and that upon the intersection of the aisles in 1260, and his son of the same name, who was bishop, laid the cornerstone for the main building and the tower fa9ade in 1291. As all these parts were built in the German style Archbishop Thoresby, in 1361, had the choir rebuilt so that the church became symmetrical. The Archdeacon of the church, Walter Skirlan, was the architect of this work, and expended much money upon it. The church was completed in the year 1405. It was much injured by fire several years ago, but it has since been thoroughly repaired.
16. The Collegiate Church at Manchester. In no country of Europe in which buildings of the German style have been erected, has the artificial construction of vaults been carried to such a perfection, or executed with such taste as in England, in which occur almost exclusively the involutions of geometrical figures. The artificial vaults first occur in the last quarter of the 13th century, and they have been made the supports of a new English style. But as they exhibit no characteristic difference from the German style, appearing within the limits and construction of the pointed-arch style as ornaments of the vaults, such a classification cannot be admitted. On the other hand there are also buildings in England where vaults are constructed not according to the geometrical figures, but with ribs laid according to curves, with numerous subordinate ribs which are nothing but decorations. Several such ribs are united in one knot and recurve, being ornamented either with a hanging keystone or a kind of little temple, or human and animal figures. Often, however, these vaults are made so flat that the ribs seem like an imitation of the artistic woodwork with which the English roofed their large halls. The Collegiate church in Manchester is an example of this roofing. It was commenced in 1400. Pl. 41, fig. 15, represents the interior view. The ceiling of the choir is composed of such almost flat stone arches, while the main building shows the wooden construction unchanged. This building exhibits upon the whole a blending of the pointed-arch style with the flat ceiling which is characteristic in many other English churches. This building is also a good example of the English flowing pointed-arch style, even if there are occasional traces of the Tudor and ass's-back arches.
17. Melrose Abbey in Scotland. This building was founded by David I. of Scotland in 1136, and is one of the most imposing monastic ruins and one of the most beautiful specimens of German architecture in Scotland. Walter Scott has introduced it in his romance, "The Monastery." Wonderful are the richness and the harmony of details, in which all the original sharpness remains. Pl. 41, fig. 17, represents the interior, which is, however, far removed from the original noble simplicity of the German architecture, and in which the columns are certainly too heavy for the elegant detail of the arches.
The Period of the Renaissance
In the beginning of the 15th century many Italian architects recognised the beauty of the monuments of a classical antiquity, forgotten for centuries. For although then, much more than now, the most imposing remains lay under their eyes, yet they were so filled with the spirit of the new style, that not only did the old fail to impress, but there were enough voices to declare that they were the relics of a barbarous art. Nevertheless the sentiment of genuine beauty gradually prevailed, and the necessity was experienced of cultivating acquaintance by sufficient attention, with the ancient Roman buildings, and especially of studying the ornaments of a classical antiquity. Thence it came that, inspired by the genius of order and harmony, Giovanni da Pisa placed regular pilasters upon the Campo Santo; that the younger Masaccio introduced three regular orders of columns, one over the other, upon the belfry of Santa Chiara in Naples; and that Orgagna, in the Loggia Lanzi; Alberti, Michelozzi Majano, and Brunelleschi in Florence, Mantua, Venice, and Rome, for the façades of churches and palaces, chose cornices for doors and windows, which were conceived from the remains of old Roman buildings, and introduced colonnades in the regular orders. Yet occasionally a blending of the German style with the antique is perceptible, and although the impression is not agreeable, yet it is easy to recognise in it the struggle for a timely and gradual progress, which, however, is here nothing but a return to the true beauty which the ancient architects had already seen and honored.
Whilst in Germany and the Netherlands the domestic style, that of the pointed-arch, still reigned supreme, and, so far as concerns monumental architecture, was exclusively employed, in Italy and France the influence of the first-mentioned studies began to be felt; and this beam of the beautiful era of art is known as "the Renaissance" or revival of old art, which disappeared again only too soon, and left the field to a poor, overloaded, and grotesque style. We will now consider a few of the buildings of the Renaissance.
Beginning with Italy, where the effects of the regeneration were first felt, we will glance at the principal cities in which monuments from that period remain.
1. Venice. The church of St. Zacharias, of which pl. 42, fig. 1, gives the view, and pl. 43, fig. 17, the ground plan, is, as a work of the Renaissance, and both in respect to the construction and decoration, one of the most remarkable buildings of Venice. Its architecture is rather peculiar than beautiful, but it offers in the general and in detail so many singularities that we have selected it for our plate in preference to many contemporary buildings.
The ground plan of this church is simple, and finely illustrative of the type which the church buildings of this period present. It consists of the main aisle and the side aisles, the choir with its gallery and the chapels in place of the old apsis. One of these chapels is wanting, and in its place is the entrance to the side aisle of the church. The main nave has double the breadth of the side aisles, from which it is separated by three arches on either side. The arches rest upon very peculiarly formed columns with very high pedestals, short shafts, and Corinthian or Composite capitals. The two first vaults of the main aisle are cross-vaults; the third, next the high choir, passes into a dome. The girt arches have little or no projection from the vault cappings. The third vault takes the place of the transept. The end of the choir forms half a decagon (in the German churches it is generally a semi-octagon), and departs materially in that from the form of the old Basilicas, whose apsis was round. This circular form appears in the interior, and beautiful mosaics are here introduced as well as in the vaults of the choir. This whole arrangement, viewed from the entrance, offers a very effective aspect, and it is impossible not to wonder at the skill with which the regularity of the Romanesque style is united with the charming grace of the pointed-arch style, for there are everywhere pointed arches, although the coupled windows are in the Romanesque style. The church has only few and unimportant sculptures.
If we turn to the façade of this church, it may serve as a type of the manifold changes which the church style of building experienced during the Renaissance. It must be conceded that the whole arrangement of the façade has something unusual, even ungainly, which is rare in buildings of this period, and it would be difficult in this arrangement to recognise Palladio. But yet, by its great magnificence and the effect of various kinds of marble, as by the skilful distribution of the sculptures, it makes a charming impression. The sculptures of the columns and pilasters, and the cornices which are earned across the latter, produce an effect similar to that of the buttresses of the immediately preceding period; while the straight entablature divided into architrave, frieze, and cornice, as well as the arrangement of the columns and pilasters in tiers above each other, recall again the Roman architecture. Least pardonable are the little columns with which the round gable is adorned, for as the projection and height of the entablature necessary to the effect of the whole are almost equal to half the height of its columns, they appear as an inappropriate ornament, not as an essential part of the façade itself.
The Venetian architect Martino Lombardo, in the years 1450–57, renewed the church which was originally built in 870–80, just after it had been injured by fire. The dome is brick below and wood above.
The Church of the Redeemer upon the Giudecca, of which pl. 43, fig. 1, shows the exterior view, fig. 3, the ground plan, and fig. 2, the longitudinal section, was commenced by Palladio in the year 1576. It consists of a nave 92 feet long and 36 feet broad, flanked by very richly decorated chapels. Its transept or the cross-arms terminate in semicircular niches or apsides. The three-quarter columns upon the façade and the Roman capitals are of burnt clay. Next the dome stand two small pyramidal towers. The walls supporting this dome are only 4 feet 6 inches thick. The half columns in the interior of the church have beautiful Corinthian capitals after those of the Pantheon at Rome. Altogether the general impression of the church recalls that of the Pantheon. The arrangement of the three gables above and behind each other can hardly be counted a beauty, especially as the great attic weakens the effect of the principal gable. The placing of the gables behind each other, as in the Pantheon at Rome, was there a necessity because the portico was added to a portal already completed. But in the design of a new façade that should have been avoided, especially when the gables must all lie nearly in the same plane, and cannot be placed at greater distances one behind another.
VII. Plate 42: Ecclesiastical and Secular Architecture of the Renaissance
Engraver: E. Krausse
The Library upon the Piazzetta is another notable building illustrative of this period of Venice. The library was formerly kept there, but it is now devoted to the residence of the viceroy and is called Palazzo Regio. Pl. 42, fig. 15, is the view of one side of it, fig. 16 represents the upper order of columns and the entablature, and figs. 17 and 18 are two of the statues which adorn the attic of the building. The façade represented is the one towards St. Mark's Place. The palace itself was built in 1536 from a drawing of Sansovino's, and completed by Scamozzi. The lower story is elevated three steps above the Piazzetta. The front is formed by 21 arches resting upon Doric half columns standing against pillars. On the sides there are three arches. The main story has Ionic half columns, and the windows on the sides fluted Ionic columns. At the side of every arch victories are carved in relief, and upon the ground story masculine allegorical figures. The key-stones of the arches are well executed masks. The frieze is disproportionately high and heavy, and has oval windows. The vaulted ceiling of the former library hall is painted finely in fresco by several masters.
In the church of St. John and St. Paul in Venice is the monument of the Doge Andreas Vendramini, who, after a short and not famous reign, died in 1478, and we mention it here because in few contemporary monuments is the effort to reach the antique so clear and striking as in this. Pl. 43, fig. 18, gives the general view, and fig. 19 the ground plan in half the size of the view. The monument has a double substructure. The cube of the first is richly adorned with arabesques, while the second appears to be the pedestal proper of the columns resting upon it, and contains the epitaph. The Corinthian columns, with attic bases, are 10 diameters in height, and stand one diameter from the wall. The four Corinthian pilasters are adorned upon the shafts with ornamented panels, and inclose two niches upon the sides, in which stand two very profane images, apparently of Bacchus and Venus, represented as Adam and Eve. Near this stands a pair of statues upon pedestals representing Roman generals. The middle niche contains the sarcophagus of the Doge ornamented with eagles, near which stand three statues with torches. The pedestal of the Sarcophagus is adorned in front and on the sides by seven statues which are intended for the Virtues, but look like Muses. Over the entablature which rests upon the Corinthian columns a high attic rises with a semicircular niche, in which St. John is represented leading the Doge to the Madonna and the child. At the side stands another Roman general or marshal, perhaps intended for St. Paul before his conversion. Upon both sides of the semicircular niche are reliefs which represent a kneeling angel and a praying female figure. How the crown of the whole is to be reconciled with the rest it is difficult to say. This crown represents two angels, terminating below like two sea-horses. They hold a wreath in which stands a boy with an apple. Over the crown is an urn, from which rises a flame. However beautiful the design and execution of this monument may be, it lacks the seriousness and above all the spiritual sentiment of a sepulchral monument.
2. Pavia. a highly remarkable building, which if not designed and begun in this period, yet then received its magnificent façade, is the church near the charter-house in Pavia. Giovanni Galeazzo, who had poisoned his uncle, and was made duke by the German Emperor in 1395, doubtless hoped to atone for his crime by building this church near the charterhouse, which had been built in 1376 under Galeazzo Visconti. Enrico of Gamondia (Henry of Gemünd, of whom we have already spoken) made the plan, and the work was commenced in 1396, but the façade was arranged by the painter and architect Ambrogio Fossano in 1473; but unhappily overloaded with ornament it does not correspond to the large style of the interior. Pl. 42, fig. 6, represents the view of this church; figs. 7 and 8, Corinthian capitals of pilasters; figs. 9 and 10, niches in which these capitals occur, and in them statues of the Apostle Paul and of St. Veronica; figs. 11–14a, consoles for statues; and fig. 14b, a medallion with a portrait of Galeazzo. The church forms a Latin cross, occupies an area of 25,370 square feet (consequently \(\frac{1}{8}\) of the space of St. Peter's), has three aisles, and many chapels. The width of the main aisle between the clustered columns, which are 7\(\frac{3}{4}\) feet thick, is 26 feet. The side aisles are 10 feet between the pillars and the wall, and the side chapels are of the same depth. The main nave is 69 feet high, and to the key-stone of the dome over the intersection of the aisles is 107 feet. The main girt arches are pointed, but the side arches round. The arches of the vault over the choir are painted in ultramarine and have golden stars. The remaining vaults are also painted. The walls of the church are of brick, but the façade is ashlered with marble. Upon the buttresses of the side walls are little perforated towers. The choir terminates in an apsis upon which stands a colonnade gallery, whilst at the sides are two strong square buttresses adorned with little towers, and similar ones stand at the apsides and in the corners of the transept. Before the side walls of the main building are vaulted arcades resting upon little columns behind the towers, and forming a gallery, and a similar arcade runs around the church under the roof, appearing even upon the front façade. The various galleries one above another, the pyramidal reduction of the dome, the red natural color of the brick wall and ornaments, contrasting with the yellow tone of the marble façade, produce a fine effect. The façade formerly had points, which have been removed. It is very rich in sculptures, containing 44 statues, 60 medallions, and many bas-reliefs.
VII. Plate 43: Renaissance Churches and Architectural Details
3. Perugia. In Perugia there are important buildings of every period of architecture, from the Roman arch down to the corrupt Italian style, and even the German style may there be met with in all its purity. Of the time of the Renaissance we shall mention the church of St. Francis, built from a design of Michelozzi. Pl. 43, fig. 4, represents the façade of this church; figs. 5, 6, 7, give the capitals of the pilasters in the statue-niches of the portal; fig. 8, a detail from the consoles which support the four great statue-niches upon the façade; fig. 9, one of the medallions under the lower statue-niches; figs. 10–12, ornamental panels; fig. 13 represents the foot and crown-cornice of the socle of the façade; fig. 14, a console of the lower niches; and figs. 15 and 16, two of the patterns of the marble pavement in the interior of the church. The inside of the church is ornamented with beautiful paintings, and its fine architecture makes an agreeable impression upon the spectator.
4. Naples. Among the many superb buildings in Naples, of which we will only mention the Cathedral of St. Januarius, no one more clearly indicates the character of the period which we are now considering, than the triumphal arch erected to king Alfonso IV. of Arragon (Alfonso I. in Naples) upon his triumphal entry in 1445 into Castel Nuovo, and whose façade is represented in pl. 42, fig. 20. Pl. 43, fig. 23, is the capital, of the lower Corinthian order, drawn on a larger scale. A part of this façade is the work of Pietro di Martino, a Milanese architect and sculptor (d. 1470), who was rewarded by being knighted by king Alfonso himself. The building, entirely of marble, is rich in ornaments, statues, and bas-reliefs. The most remarkable of the last, in the attic over the entrance-arch, represents the triumphal procession of the king; and the arrangement of this procession, in combination with the niches over the entablature, is remarkable The three statues which crown the summit are those of St. Michael, St. Antonio Abbate, and St. Sebastian. They are supplementary, placed here under the government of the viceroy Don Pietro di Toledo, and are works of the Neapolitan sculptor, Giovanni Merlano da Nola. This triumphal arch is so much the more remarkable, as it is the only structure of this kind that remains to us from that period.
From Italy reawakening art soon found its way to France, especially as King Francis I. not only brought the choicest works from Italy to France, but assembled the most illustrious Italian artists at his court, employing them abundantly, and heaping gold and honor upon them. Hence there are many fine monuments in France which belong to this period, and which we shall consider in the order of the principal cities.
1. Paris. Among the distinguished persons who in the 16th century generously furthered art, the Cardinal George d'Amboise, archbishop of Rouen, and Minister of Louis XII., occupies an eminent place. He built, among other things, the palace of Gaillon upon the Seine, one of the most beautiful buildings of this period. In the 12th century there was already a country seat upon the site, but it was destroyed in the 13th by the troops of the Duke of Bedford. In the year 1505 the new building was commenced, but only completed in the middle of the century; and althougli no expense was regarded in its construction, Colbert afterwards knew how to lavish millions more upon it. In the Revolution it was again destroyed. Alexander Lenoir succeeded in saving a part of the façade. He had it taken off with the greatest care and brought to Paris piece by piece, when he had it again erected in the court of the old convent of the Petits Augustins, of which he had made a museum of antiquities. The building is now the Ecole des Beaux Arts, and the façade stands in the same place. Pl. 42, fig. 19, gives a view of it. Formerly Jean Joconde was supposed to have been the architect, but it is now properly credited to William Penault and Collin Byard. In the royal sepulchre of St. Denis, of which we have already spoken (page 168), the monument of. king Louis XII. and his wife Anna of Bretagne was distinguished among the other magnificent monuments. Pl. 43, fig. 20, gives the side view; fig. 21, the east; and fig. 22, the west side of it. This monument was made at Tours in 1518 by Jean Juste, the sculptor of king Francis I., and then brought to St. Denis. The statues of the apostles and of the cardinal virtues were, however, added afterwards by Paul Pontius Trebatti. The work is of white Italian marble, and represents upon a substructure of black marble, a kind of canopy upon pillars, under which the bodies of the king and queen lie upon a cup-shaped sarcophagus as naked corpses, while upon the platform both appear in full attire kneeling in prayer. The substructure has plates of white marble, with bas-reliefs, which represent the Italian campaign of Louis XII., the battle of Agnadel, and the entry into Genoa. The arabesques that ornament the pilasters are in general poor, although overloaded with motivos of all kinds, which are ludicrously confused. Against the pilasters stand the imposts which support the semicircular arches, whose key-stones are richly adorned, and in whose comers are figures of Genii of Glory. The capitals are carefully, and some even tastefully, ornamented. The ornaments upon the corners suggest the volutes of the Composite capitals. The frieze of the Corinthian entablature contains the epitaph. There are 20 statues upon the monument, including:
The two portrait-statues of the king and queen.
The same as they lie in the tomb, the head bent slightly backwards and resting upon a handkerchief, the hands crossed. The artist has here represented death in its most ghastly form, for the worms appear in the incisions made for embalming.
On the four corners stood formerly the four cardinal virtues, Valor, Justice, Temperance, and Wisdom. These statues are now removed, and stand at the entrance of the choir.
The twelve apostles.
The last sixteen figures are heavy and mannered, and badly designed. The heads are wanting in nobility, with one exception; and while John has a frightfully long neck, Philip looks remarkably vulgar, so that these figures together are very ludicrous. They are the work of Paul Pontius Trebatti.
2. Vetheuil. The church of Notre Dame in Vetheuil (the old Vethelium near Mantes) is of three epochs. The choir was bnilt by Henry II. of England. The tower is of the 14th century, built by command of Joanna of Evreaux, the third wife of Charles the Fair. The vestry, the western portal, and the transept, date from the time of Francis I. The western portal, of which plate 42, fig. 2, gives a view, and whose ground plan is represented in fig. 4, has on both sides a pair of wing walls, which excepting a pierced baluster, are devoid of decoration, and are even without windows. It projects somewhat, has a pair of stair-towers on the sides, and is divided into three stories. The lower story is the highest, and is almost as high as the wing walls. It has a door, divided by a central pillar into two gates, with low vaulted ceilings. Before the pillar stands upon a column whose base and capital are given in fig. 3a and 3b the statue of Christian Love under a canopy; over the gates are semicircular niches. The projection of the tower is also ornamented with niches, whose canopies instead of ending in pyramidal points bear a kind of dome in the style of the Renaissance. The lower story is divided by a Doric entablature with triglyphs and modillions, over which is a low gable with an unrecognisable bas-relief There are no statues in the niches. The second story has two somewhat projecting wings with corner columns upon a small plinth connected by a railing over the above-mentioned gable. The middle part has two rather narrow windows upon whose sides are two medallions with sculptures. The windows are semicircularly closed, and have also medallions with heads which the Renaissance introduced in abundance, a style which is now again pursued with great earnestness. From the imposts of the window arches rise little Ionic pilasters, which support the cornice which extends over the projecting wings, and is ornamented with Jacob's shells. The third story is almost entirely like the second, but is still simpler. The projecting wings support small octagonal towers with corner columns, and with tile-covered domes which have a peculiarly formed point. The three-cornered projections at the bottom of these towers are decorated with vases. The crowning of the middle part forms a fronton in the shape of a true arc, upon which, in a very remarkable manner, balls are introduced as ornaments, which much disfigure it. The fronton is surrounded by a cross. Pl. 42, fig. 5, shows the ground plan of the southern portal. It is peculiar, as it forms a hall receding into the church.
In our examination of the architecture of antiquity and of the middle ages, we have based our divisions partly on the manner of single races, and partly upon peculiar styles, because as the original architecture of a people is determined by their manner of life, by their character, by the land they inhabit, and its climate, and takes from all these influences its peculiar character which must remain for a long time unchanged, owing to the limited intercourse among different people of old, we could speak very distinctively, e. g. of an Egyptian and a Grecian architecture, without danger of meeting the same or even similar characteristics in both. This is some what true also of the middle ages. Nations were much more separated then than now, and peculiar styles were formed with very distinguishable characteristics. Religion and increasing trade, however, united the European nations more closely. The fact that in the middle ages the monks were mostly the architects of their own churches, led to the introduction of the different styles from one part of Europe to another. Hence we see buildings of the same style in very different places. Yet the original type of the style was generally closely followed, and if we occasionally find a mixture of styles in churches and other large buildings, it originates as we have already observed from the long duration of their construction extending through the periods when important changes in taste or manner influenced the several architects, who in succession had charge of the progressing edifices.
In the architectural history of modern times, however, the relations of things are different. After the beneficial influence of refinement in architecture had lasted for some time after the Renaissance, attention was exclusively directed to the old monuments of ancient architecture, and the imitation of these was attempted. But while such men as Michael Angelo and Raphael and their contemporaries wisely recommended the study of the noblest ancient monuments as a means of improvement of the public taste, persons of an ill-advised zeal devoted themselves blindly to the study of the relics of that period of antiquity when architecture was already declining, and when excessive ornaments rather than noble forms were resorted to for effect, such as broken gables over doors and windows, and similar absurdities which had no architectonic truth or necessity whatever. Hence arose the new, and from that the corrupt Italian style. But as Italy was the traditional land of art, these defects were all carefully copied everywhere, and the corrupt style spread, receiving occasional additions, especially in France, which tended to make it if possible still more abominable. From this period date those architectural monstrosities which are found in all parts of Europe, and enjoy the little flattering epithet of the queue style. It was reserved for the most recent times to supplant this awkward taste. Greater knowledge of Grecian and other remains, and zealous study of them, led to the rejection of all fantastic and superfluous ornaments; graceless forms disappeared, and a closer investigation of technicalities and manners of construction did away with much of the former clumsiness. But with this disappeared the nationality of style, and all forms were adopted promiscuously, modified according to the special purposes of edifices. Hence many modern cities contain specimens of the styles of architecture of almost all people and all times. In considering modern buildings, we can therefore no longer follow our old divisions of styles, for no style is consistently employed in any place. We have preferred to classify them according to their different purposes, and describe the edifices of the same class in ethnographical order. The reader will thus be able to form an idea of the architectural taste and progress of the several nations. We have included in the list several buildings which according to their plans belong to an earlier period, but were finished, rebuilt, or decorated in the present; for instance such churches as Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence.
The number of churches built in Italy during the last three centuries is astonishing, and an adequate description of them would fill volumes. We have, therefore, selected some of them as representatives of the changes and progress of the art in Italy, and will describe them in chronological order.
1. Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence. To the largest buildings of the new Greek style belongs this church, or the cathedral of Florence, which was commenced in 1298 upon the site where the old church Santa Reparata had stood. Although some regard Arnolfo di Cambio de Cola as the architect, yet Vasari has proved that Arnolfo da Lapo, a German, made the design of the church, of which pl. 49, fig. 6, gives the ground plan, and pl. 45, fig. 6, the rear view. The ground plan forms a Latin cross, and consists of a middle aisle, two low side aisles, the choir under the dome, and the transept which intersects the choir. After Arnolfo's death the work advanced slowly and under the following architects: Giotto da Vespignano, Taddeo Gaddi, Andrea Orsagna, Filippo di Lorenzo, Brunelleschi, who added the no less artistic than beautiful dome, and finally Baccio di Agnolo, from 1547–74, who completed it. Arnolfo da Lapo had neither left sufficient drawings for the dome nor for the centring; consequently in the beginning of the 15th century, when it was necessary to vault the domes, no one knew how to do it. Brunelleschi made sketches for the work, but was unheeded until in 1420 he was elected architect. He completed this gigantic work in 14 years (1434) and began also in 1437 the lantern, which was not completed until 1456, twelve years after his death.
The middle aisle is 50 feet broad between the pillars, and the side aisles 27 feet. The pillars are 8 feet thick; the side walls the same thickness. The whole length of the church is 448 feet, and the middle aisle is 129 feet high. The height of the pillars to the commencement of the connecting arches is 46 feet, to the commencement of the cross-vault 91 feet, to the vertex of the connecting arches 79 feet. The pillars and vaults are of hard grey sandstone. The exterior is faced with white, black, and green marble in panels, and around the roof of the dome runs a very beautiful marble gallery. The octagonal cupola is raised over the middle of the cross 264 feet above the church floor. Its own height is 99 feet, 6 inches, and its diameter is 139 feet. The summit of the cross upon the lantern is 361 feet above the floor. The area occupied by the building is 83,988 square feet, and is to that of St. Peter's as 1 : 2.31. The whole cathedral and the cupola are accessible by stairs, and in two main pillars there are vestries. The floor is paved with colored marble after designs by San Gallo, Michael Angelo, and Baccio d' Agnolo. The western façade was formerly in the Byzantine style and ornamented with twenty-four statues; but Benedetto Ugaccioni, the overseer of the church, had the madness, in 1586, to employ the lower classes during the famine in tearing it down. Later a new façade was commenced by Salvani, but it was so bad that what was finished was taken down, and finally a tasteless painted front in the corrupt Italian style was introduced, which still exists, bearing witness to the disgrace of the time and disfiguring the beautiful church.
2. San Andrea in Mantua. This church was designed by Leo Battista Alberti, born in Florence in the year 1398, whose best work is the palace Rucellai in Florence, and its erection commenced in the year of his death, 1572. It is not yet entirely completed. Pl. 50, fig. 9, shows its ground plan. It forms a Latin cross and has a dome over the intersection of the nave and transept. In the main building, which is covered with a casetted cylindrical vault, the pilasters which support the cornice are apparently coupled, so that instead of side aisles, larger and smaller side chapels are formed. The choir-termination is formed by two intersecting semicircles. There is a crypt added in modern times by the architect Salucci, and whose flat vaults rest upon 8 columns. The present, but still unfinished, façade is by Juvara. It lacks yet the vestibule and one tower, only one being completed.
3. The Clock Tower in Venice. The place of St. Mark in Venice is surrounded, as are few places in the world, with a great number of beautiful and time-hallowed buildings, almost all of historical interest. To these belongs the clock tower (Torre del orologio) which stands in immediate contact with the palace of the procurators. The middle part, which was built in 1496 by Pietro Lombardo, is 92 feet high; the wings were added in 1500 by Carlo Rainaldi of Reggio, and are 75 feet high. In the third story is the great clock of Venice, the lower story is occupied by stores, and the rest of the building by dwellings. In the lower story the façade consists of a large arch and several pilasters, next which stand little Corinthian columns upon high pedestals.
4. The Bell Tower of Palermo is of a similar plan, but smaller. It was built almost at the same time. Pl. 48, fig. 12, gives the view. The middle part, with many openings, gives the otherwise well designed façade a certain heaviness; and the singularly formed dome, with its far projecting balusters unpleasantly dividing it, makes a peculiar impression.
5. The Bell Tower in Rome, near the Basilica St. Maria in Cosmedino, was built in the 12th century, upon the remains of a temple of Ceres and Proserpine. Pl. 53, fig. 12, gives the view, fig. 13 the section, of this tower. It is about 120 feet high and only 15 feet square. The lower part, about 32 feet high, is without opening, and there are two Corinthian columns within its walls from the old temple of Ceres (fig. 13). This substructure supports 7 stories, the two lowest of which have 2 and the upper 3 arched windows. The three lowest stories have pillars of brick-work, the upper little columns of marble, with handsome marble capitals. The exterior is inlaid in several places with plates of porphyry, and the cornices, which separate the stories, have modillions of white marble.
6. The Church San Pietro in Montorio in Rome. In the year when Brunelleschi died (1444), one of the greatest architects of his time, Bramante Lazzari, was born in Castello Durante, near Urbino. He studied with great zeal the architecture of the old monuments, and his buildings, which are many, although he began late, show the fruits of these studies. One of his most beautiful works is the church San Pietro in Montorio in Rome, one of the smallest but finest of architectural achievements. Pl. 45, fig. 7, gives the ground plan, fig. 8 the front view, and fig. 9 the section of this church, which occupies the centre of the cloister of the convent of San Pietro, in Montorio, and under which there is yet a round chapel dedicated to the apostle. Bramante built this church in the year 1502, and it was the first sacred building departing from the old Basilica type ever erected in Rome. Sixteen beautiful Doric columns form the peristyle, each of a single granite block. The attic appears perhaps a little too high, but the whole makes a fine impression.
The principal church of San Pietro in Montorio is not to be confounded with this smaller one. The larger one stands upon the Janiculine hill in Rome, and to it belongs the cloister in which Bramante's church was built. It is a very old church and consists of an aisle with a choir apsis and side chapels, and is roofed over in part with two cross-vaults. This church received a new façade in 1475, designed by Baccio Pintetti. Pl. 46, fig. 12, represents it. It has a door with a straight lintel, 6 feet 3 inches broad and 12 feet high.
7. The Church della Consolazione in Todi. In 1505, a few years after the commencement of the above mentioned church, Bramante began the church della Consolazione before the walls of the little city of Todi, in the Duchy of Spoleto. Pl. 50, fig. 6, shows the front view, and fig. 7, the section of this church, whose ground plan forms a square, upon each side of which a semicircle is attached, forming a Greek cross. Each one of these semicircles is covered with a half dome, and over the middle of the centre space is a drum, over which stands the chief dome. The art with which the architect has adapted the height of the various colonnades to each other, and the harmony of all the lines, as well within as on the exterior of the church, deserve attention.
VII. Plate 44: Saint Peter's in Rome
8. St. Peter's in Rome. The work which immortalizes the name of Bramante is St. Peter's church in Rome; and although he did not complete it, and even his design was not entirely followed, yet it was he who first advanced the bold idea of setting the pantheon upon a basilica, and thus accomplishing a work unapproached in grandeur. St. Peter's church, of which pl. 44, fig. 1, gives the entire ground plan, fig. 2 the horizontal section of the three domes, fig. 4 the geometrical side view of the church proper, and fig. 3 the perspective view of the whole edifice, is remarkable in respect to the sums lavished upon it and the means adopted for raising those suras, which was the famous selling of indulgences. Perhaps without the selling of indulgences Luther would never have been compelled to protest publicly, and the reformation might liave been retarded if Bramante's simple plan had been adopted which he had sketched for a church upon the site of the old basilica, San Pietro, as his design did not require the immense sums that were afterwards expended in the erection of modern St. Peter's.
Pope Nicholas V. was the first who thought of building a new church (when the old one was considered decaying), and he caused Rosellini to draw a design, which was not followed and was lost. Seven popes after Nicholas permitted the matter to rest, until Julius II. revived it. Among many plans that of Bramante was selected. According to him the church was to consist of three aisles in the form of a Latin cross, with three entrances to them, under a portico of 36 columns, unhappily at unequal distances. The pillars of the interior were to have had niches, and the four chief pillars to have supported a dome of 127 feet in width and 67 feet in height from the drum, which was to have been a circular wall 32 feet high and 12 feet thick, surrounded by 48 disengaged Corinthian columns 3 feet thick. The dome, finally, was to have been surmounted by a lantern 94 feet high.
On the 18th of April, 1506, the corner-stone of one of the chief pillars was laid by the pope, after the old basilica had been removed in injudicious hurry, and only a single one of its exquisite mosaics, that still exists in the present church, had been saved. Bramante, who must have foreseen an alteration of his plan after his death, aimed at having at least the dome retained, and so only the main pillars were constructed. But in spite of the great zeal with which he pursued the work, they were only completed to the main cornice with their arches at the time of his death in 1514. When Leo X. ascended the papal throne, Giuliano di San Gallo, Fra Giocondo of Venice, and Raphael of Urbino, Bramante's nephew, who had his drawings, were named as commissioners of the building. San Gallo soon returned to Venice, Fra Giocondo died, and Raphael continued the work alone, strengthened the foundations and the pillars themselves which had proved too weak, but died in 1520. After him Balthasar Peruzzi was architect, and made a new plan by which the church would have formed a Greek cross, but would have become of inferior effect. Around the great dome four smaller ones were to have been placed; the three great apsides which Bramante had already arranged, and which still remain, Peruzzi retained. This poor plan was only commenced, however, when Pope Paul III. appointed Antonio San Gallo, the nephew of Giuliano, as the assistant of Peruzzi, and he soon after the death of Peruzzi presented his own plan in a model made by Labacco, in which the form of the Latin cross was restored. This plan was rejected, and San Gallo died of vexation in 1546. Thus the work had advanced for forty years without any plan, when Michael Angelo Buonarotti drew a new design, and Paul III., who had called him to Rome, appointed him sole architect. Michael Angelo approached again the form of the Greek cross, and according to his plan the church was built as far as where in our ground plan (fig. 1) stands the first row of pillars in the main building, so that the ground plan was a square, with a fore-hall and three semicircles attached. Here, at the great division, the building was to end, and a double portico of 10 and 4 columns was added. This plan was accepted as unalterable by an apostolic brief. Lorenzetto served as superintendent under Micbael Angelo, who conducted the work for seventeen years without remuneration. In the year 1557 Michael Angelo had completed the great vaults under the drum which was to bear the dome, and made the model of the dome, but this was not begun until twenty-four years after his death, which occurred the 15th February, 1564. Pirro Ligorio succeeded Michael Angelo, but he did little, and Vignolo followed, with strict orders not to deviate a hair's breadth from the plans of Michael Angelo. By him are the two side domes (fig. 3), and he faced the exterior wall with ashlers. After Vignola's death in 1573, Gregory XIII. intrusted the work to Giacomo della Porta, who completed the building to the above-mentioned limits of Michael Angelo's plan, after which only the dome, but that the most difficult part of all, remained to be executed. Sixtus V. now named the Chevalier Domenico Fontana as architect, whose son Carlo Fontana designed the centring. It consisted of eight suspension pieces uniting in the centre, and of beams jointed one above the other, over which the sixteen chief ribs of the vault were to be constructed simultaneously, all being kept at equal heights. On the 15th July, 15S8, the work commenced with 600 laborers working in turns day and night, under the superintendence of Domenico Fontana, and twenty-two months later, on the 14th March, 1590, the pope himself laid the last consecrated stone in this vault.
Meanwhile some fissures showed themselves in the vault of the dome, and its fall was feared. But Carlo Fontana showed the baselessness of such fears, and a great counsel of architects and mathematicians that was summoned in 1742 on the strength of similar apprehensions, decided that there was no reason to fear a fall, yet by Poleni's advice it was concluded for greater safety to place five girdles around the dome. This was accomplished in 1747 by Vanvitelli, and since then no new precautions for security have been necessary. To return to the earlier history, the crypt under the middle of the church, to which access is had from the interior, was enlarged by Domenico Fontana, who also introduced additional light.
As Michael Angelo's plan ended at the point indicated above, and as it was feared that the interior might be too small for the immense throng that would assemble for the Year of Jubilee and the coronation of the Pope, Paul V. resolved to enlarge it. Maderno accomplished this by designing the remainder of the edifice including the portal of travertine. The five doors leading into the church are covered with bronze plates with costly bas-reliefs. The middle one, with representations from the lives of the apostles Peter and Paul, was cast in 1430 by Antonio Filareto for the old church. The fifth door is walled up and is called the holy, because it is only opened once every year of jubilee.
Until the year 1660 the church had no adequate avenue, and among many new and old plans Pope Alexander VII. chose the colonnade of Bernini shown in our ground plan (fig. 1). In order to complete it, it was necessary to remove many buildings, and among them the house of Raphael, built by Bramante. On the 25th August, 1660, the comer-stone of these colonnades was laid, which are 1056 feet long and in the long axis of the ellipse 738 feet wide. The inner colonnades of the elliptical hall stand 524 feet apart, and the colonnade wings consist of four rows of Doric columns, 41 feet in height, numbering 256, which support an entablature without triglyphs (see page 100), 9 feet, 6 inches high, surmounted by a balustrade 6 feet high, adorned with 96 statues, 9 feet, 6 inches high. The diameters of the four rows of columns, beginning with the innermost, are respectively 5 feet 3 inches, 5 feet 6 inches, 6 feet, and 6 feet 3 inches, so that the rules of perspective and optics are regarded. In the middle of the place inclosed by the wings stands an obelisk 124 feet high, erected in 1556, and at some distance towards both sides are two great fountains. The flight of steps before the church (Scala regia) is the largest in the world, for the outermost steps are 620 feet long. It will be found interesting to consider more particularly the dimensions of this temple, which is paved with marble of various colors.
Its length (fig. 1) is 657 feet, 4 inches. The length in the clear of the middle aisle is 565 feet, 6 inches; that of the transept 415 feet. The width of the middle aisle is 78 feet; that of the cross-arms 73 feet, 10 inches. The inner width of the dome is 125 feet, the thickness of the principal girths at the lower edge is 4 feet and at the lantern 3 feet, those of the outer cupola are 3 feet thick below and 2 feet above, and the thickness of the four principal pillars in the shorter diagonal is 55 feet, in the larger 78 feet. The smallest thickness of the outer wall is 26 feet. The height of the middle aisle is 144 feet, and the thickness of its principal girths is 3 feet, 6 inches. The four pairs of decorative pilasters are 78 feet high and 8 feet broad. From the pavement to the opening of the lantern is a height of 310 feet, 10 inches, and to the upper part of the cap of the lantern 363 feet, 6 inches. The diameter of the little domes of Vignola is 38 feet, 3 inches, and their height above the drum is 21 feet. Their openings are 192 feet above the floor. The church covers an area of 199,926 square feet, of which 52,218 square feet are occupied by the masonry, which consequently covers more than a third. If five square feet are reckoned to a person, the church and its fore halls can hold almost 29,000 persons. The church has the high altar not towards the east, which is very remarkable, but towards the west. Towers were to have been erected on the façade of the building, and Bernini had improved the plan of Maderno and Fernambosco and the work was begun. They were to have been 164 feet, 6 inches high, but as it appeared that the foundations of the church would not bear them and as the walls began to crack, the completed part was removed in 1647.
VII. Plate 45: Italian Churches of the Middle Ages and Renaissance
9. The Church San Gioegio Maggiore in Venice. We now come to the period of one of the most famous architects of the 16th century, Andrea Palladio of Vicenza (born 1508, died 1580), who gathered his knowledge from the works of Vitruvius and Alberti, and was practically instructed by Trissino. His finest works are in Rome, in Venice, and in his native city. In 1556 Palladio began the church San Giorgio Maggiore upon the island of Giudecca in Venice, of which pl. 46, fig. 10, gives a view, and its interior was completed in 1579. The first church upon this site had three aisles, and its old brick bell tower stands yet at the side of the present choir. Palladio gave his plan the form of a Latin cross with a gabled projection consisting of four half columns. The cross-arms are rounded off and a dome rises on the cross. The three-quarter columns of the façade crowned with Roman capitals, are 5 feet thick and 54 feet high, and stand upon high pedestals and are intersected by the cornices of the corner pilasters which are lower. The church is as little an example of a beautiful style as the façade of the church of Trevignano (pl. 45, fig. 11), which has a similar ground plan but three aisles of equal height, for which reason the façade, from the unimportant character of the front attachment, appears jejune while it crushes the latter by its weight. Much better is the façade of the Church delle Figlie in Venice (fig. 10), which, by the two well harmonized arrangements of half-columns and pilasters and the graceful gable over them, has a good effect.
10. The Church of St. Francesco della Vigna in Venice. This church was first erected by Martin da Pisa in the 13th century, and was so ruinous in the 16th century, that in 1534 it was renewed from a design of Sansovino. Palladio changed it somewhat and made the façade (pl. 46, fig. 11). It consists of large and small Corinthian columns of marble, and has a semicircular window. On the sides of the main-aisle, which is 49 feet 3 inches wide, are chapels with very beautiful bas-reliefs. There is in this church the same impropriety as in the façade of the church San Giorgio Maggiore, yet the mouldings of the high pedestal of the half column are better combined. The intersection of the columns by the cornice of the lower order is, however, not to be justified. Palladio found many imitators in France and England. The church of Mary Magdalen at Bridgenorth, of which fig. 7 gives the elevation and fig. 6 the ground plan, and the church Notre Dame de Lorette in Paris, a view of which is given in fig. 2, and the ground plan in pl. 48, fig. 6, are entirely modelled upon the best works of Palladio.
11. The Basilica in Vicenza. In his 30th year, after completing the public palace Il Castillo in Udine, and the villa of his master Trissino, Palladio undertook a work of great importance. The magistracy of his native city had requested designs from three architects for the reconstruction of the council house or the so called Basilica, and as Palladio's gained the prize the work was intrusted to him. Pl. 45, fig. 5, gives a view of this edifice. The old building was to be surrounded upon three sides with colonnades of bard stone. The columns and pilasters are of marble, the walls of brick. The length of the largest side is 395 feet. Of the ten principal pillars, those on the corner had three columns, the middle ones had each one half column of the Doric order. Between them stand four coupled, small Tuscan columns, with an entablature connecting them with the small pilasters of the principal pillars. Over these four columns an arch is sprung reaching almost to the architrave of the Doric order. The story above is of the Ionic order, and disposed in the same way. Over the corner columns stand statues upon pedestals, connected by a railing. Over the eight middle columns is an attic with round windows, over which is a roof constructed of rafters and covered with lead. Its ribs are 9 to 10 feet apart. The arcades have cross-vaults.
12. The Church Madonna degli Angeli at Rome is a work of Michael Angelo, built of a part of the remains of the Baths of Diocletian (pl. 46, fig. 19, ground plan, and fig. 20, lateral section). Its ground plan is in great part determined by the position of the ruins, for the great hall of the baths forms the chief part of the church. The eight antique granite columns, 43 feet 6 inches high, have Corinthian and Roman capitals, but the fine old door of the hall is walled up. Before this a handsome dome rises over the fore-church, between which and the church proper is a vestibule with four columns. Battista Soria has not much improved the church by his additions. It is roofed with heavy old cross-vaults. Its dimensions are 336 feet length, 308 feet breadth, and 84 feet height. Adjoining the church, also in the ruins of the baths, is the cloister surrounded with one hundred columns, and designed by Michael Angelo.
13. The Church of the Assumption in Genoa. Galeazzo Alessi (born in Perugia in 1500, died in 1572) was for Genoa what Bramante was to Rome, Palladio and Sansovino for Venice, and Ammanato for Florence. He beautified the city in every direction. He built the Church of the Assumption (pl. 45, fig. 3, plan; fig. 4, elevation). This church is by no means one of the largest, but one of the best monuments, and of complete unity in all its proportions. Its ground plan forms a regular square of 150 feet, with a small addition about 20 feet deep for the high choir where the altar stands. The middle of this square is surmounted by a dome of 40 feet diameter, resting upon four massive pillars. The interior of the church forms a Greek cross, so that this church may be regarded as the completion upon a small scale of Michael Angelo's plan of St. Peter's. The exterior of the dome consists of the drum, composed of arches and massive masonry, and adorned with Corinthian pilasters, and of the overtopped dome whose lantern has a semi-spherical cap. The effect of this dome, which is 180 feet high, is in perfect harmony with that of the portal.
14. The Church Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome. Among the architects who helped to originate the corrupt Italian style which at the end of the 16th century extended from one end of Italy to the other, and overloaded the façades with pilasters, gables, and niches, must be reckoned Giamb. Soria, who built the façade of the church Maria della Vittoria at Rome (pl. 50, fig. 5, elevation). This church was erected at the expense of Cardinal Scipio Borghese in gratitude for the ancient statue of the Hermaphrodite found in digging the foundations of the church, and presented to him. So fair a gift deserved a fairer recognition than this hideous façade. The church was commenced in 1605 under Paul V., and the interior was ornamented by Maderno with pilasters of Sicilian alabaster, with gilded statues, and paintings of Guercino and Guido Reni. The pavement is marble.
15. The Church of St. Ignatius in Rome. Alessandro Algardi (born 1602, died 1654) was, like his pupil Baratta, both sculptor and architect, and his peculiar gift was the arrangement of irregular places and fountains. Many buildings of his are extant, but they are all in the corrupt Italian style. Among these is the façade of the church of St. Ignatius in Rome (pl. 48, fig. 9), whose front projections, double tiers of pilasters one above the other, and poor frontons, make it an example of utter tastelessness. The church was begun in 1626 at the expense of Cardinal Ludovisi, from the design of Father Grassi or of Domenichino, and was completed in 1685. Father Pozzo crowned the work by furnishing the church with singularly tasteless altars. Its length is 140 feet, and it is 103 feet high. In the interior there are coupled fluted Corinthian pilasters standing in front of the pillars of the nave, with a complete entablature, and above that an attic, with tasteless work in stucco.
16. The Church San Carlo alle Quatro Fontane in Rome. Among all the architects of the 17th century, Francesco Borromini (born 1599, died 1667) contributed most largely to the disgrace of architecture. Originally a sculptor, he studied architecture with Maderno. His works are remarkable for showing how far a favored artist can possibly go astray. He hated regularity, and crammed his façades with broken entablatures, pilasters, semi-columns, niches, senseless ornaments, and door and window pediments of every imaginable form. Notwithstanding this, his works were engraved on copper as specimens of beautiful architecture, and so greatly assisted the corruption of art throughout Europe. The above-mentioned church, built by him in 1640 (pl. 48, fig. 10, ground plan; fig. 11, the façade) proves the truth of our assertion. This mixture of straight, convex, and concave lines, of semi-columns above each other, of niches and sculptures, of scroll cornices and reversed consoles, indicates only the taste of an architect who degraded his art to the level of a joiner's craft, and found pleasure in doing precisely the reverse of what others did. The interior of the church is, as the ground plan shows, formed of irregular, crooked lines, and contains 16 Corinthian three-quarter columns, 22 feet high.
17. The Church della Superga in Turin (pl. 45, fig. 1, plan; fig. 2, elevation). One of the best pupils of the architect Carlo Fontana, whose ability we have already observed in St. Peter's, was Filippo Ivara (born 1685, died 1755), of whose beautiful buildings a great number still remain. The most beautiful is doubtless the seminary and church della Superga, upon a height near Turin. From this point a broad view of country is commanded. Here in 1706 Victor Amadeus and Prince Eugene projected the plan of defence for Turin, and Victor Amadeus vowed, should he be victorious, to erect there a splendid temple to God. After the liberation of Piedmont, Ivara began the building in 1715. It was finished in the year 1735. The plan cannot be over-praised. It covers an area of about 500 feet in length and 300 in breadth, and forais a symmetrical quadrangle. The building of the seminary is very skilfully joined to the church. The interior has a court of 150 feet in length, with two tiers of colonnades, and around this dwellings are distributed. The outer plan of the church is united with the common passage by a more than semicircular part, before which stands a portico of columns, four across the front and three in depth. To it are joined two retreating façades, which are adorned with Corinthian pilasters, and unite on both sides with the convent, while the constitute part of the church façade. Upon each wing is a bell-tower, which skilfully relieves the mass of the dome. Inside, the more than semicircular part changes into a polygon which forms the circumference of the dome, whose support are the pillars of the arcades and the divisions which contain the chapels, ranged all round. The choir and the high altar occupy a prolongation of the space occupied by the church. The whole combination is admirably conceived. The inner height of the dome is 150 feet, the outer 165, and with the lantern 200 feet. Its inner diameter is 56, the exterior 80 feet. It belongs to the first domes of the second rank.
In France the same general proportions were observed as in Italy, for France has always followed the Italian school in the fine arts, and has done very little of itself. But it has very skilfully adopted and developed the styles of its neighbors.
VII. Plate 46: European Churches of Various Architectural Styles
1. The Church of Sts. Gervais and Protais in Paris. This church claims notice here solely on account of its façade (pl. 46, fig. 3), for the building itself was founded in 558, and renewed in the German style in 1212, probably by Montereaux. When it was again repaired in 1581, the hanging keystones of the vaults were added, for such a construction was not usual in the 13th century, but was introduced later in England. The middle aisle is 24 feet broad and 80 feet high, and is remarkable for having galleries, which were of rare occurrence in the middle ages. The façade represented by us was added in 1616 by Jacques de Brosse, and completed in 1621. It is 82 feet broad and 132 feet high. Beneath it is finished with four disengaged and four half columns of the Doric order, and a heavy attic over the entablature of this order, above which are eight fluted half columns of the Ionic order, with niches between them, and the window divided by a centre column. Over this again there is a heavy attic, above which is the upper building, with four Corinthian half columns, an entablature, and a gable, whose outline is an arc. Pl. 46, fig. 4, gives the ground plan of the portal; fig. 4a and fig. 4b, the Doric; and figs. 4c and d, the Ionic order. In the last, the convex frieze over the low architrave has a bad effect.
2. The Church of St. Paul and St. Louis in Paris. Formerly the Jesuits had only an establishment for the reception of novices in Paris; but the Cardinal de Bourbon, uncle of Henry IV., gave them ground for the erection of a church, of which Louis XIII. laid the corner-stone on the 10th March, 1627. The Jesuit Francois Derrand designed the plan and directed the building. Pl. 46, fig. 5, is the façade of this church, which was begun at the expense of Cardinal Richelieu in 1634, and finished in 1641. The façade, the most important part of the church, consists of three orders, above each other. The two lower are Corinthian and the upper one is Roman. The arms of Richelieu were formerly displayed upon a round gable over the main door. He consecrated the church and said the first mass in it. The middle story has upon its middle space an ornament of elliptical form, that contains the cypher of the Jesuits in a flood of rays, and on the right and left are niches with the statues of Ignatius Loyola and Francis Xavier. In the upper story, which has only four columns, stands, in a niche, the statue of St. Louis. In former times (and our copy is from Derrand's drawing) the façade was overloaded with ornaments, which are now removed, and the effect, although not in the best style, is much improved.
VII. Plate 47: European Churches of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries
3. The Hôtel des Invalides in Paris. One of the most famous French architects next to Mansard was Liberal Bruant, who lived in the 17th and 18th centuries (born in 1640). The Hôtel des Invalides is among his best buildings. Of its church, (pl. 47, fig. 1, gives the ground plan, fig. 2 the view, fig. 3 the section, fig. 4 the ground plan of the dome, and figs. 5 and 6 details of the arch soffits, whilst pl. 50, fig. 1, represents the interior. The façade of the entire building, which consists of five courts, is 615 feet long. In the rear of the middle and largest court which is surrounded by a gallery of double arcades, is the portal of the church, which now contains the ashes of Napoleon. The façade of the Invalide-house itself has arcades below and three stories above. In the middle a large arch crowns the portal. Upon the great court are 4 eating-halls, each 138 feet long, 33 feet wide, and 31 feet high. Louis XHI. founded the building in 1634 according to another plan, but the erection was interrupted, and Louis XIV. had it built from Eruant's plan in 1670. The church designed by that architect is not to be confounded with the later addition, but embraced only the part a (pl. 47, fig. 1), with the two round vestries c c. It consists of a fore hall and three aisles of which the middle one is 38 feet, the side ones only 9 feet, 6 inches wide. Upon these side aisles rests the gallery. Outside of the vestibule stand six pairs of Doric and over them as many Corinthian columns, coupled. Between the vestries, c c, is the oval division d, with the richly decorated altar b. The height of the aisles is 85 feet, and over the altar is yet a wooden dome 15 feet high.
Thence you enter the cathedral proper e, whose Corinthian columns (4 feet thick and 36 feet high), with the pillars which are finished with Corinthian pilasters, support the drum of the dome which is 73 feet wide inside. The dome itself is of wood, and its highest point is 210 feet from the church floor. The dome begins 68 feet above the gable of the façade. Its form is handsome, and its height to the breadth is as 5 to 3. It is gilded and upon it stands a lantern crowned with a cross, 275 feet above the floor, and surrounded with Corinthian columns. The cathedral was begun by Hardouin Mansard and finished by de Cotte. It occupies an area of 30,132 square feet, and with the old church the whole amounts to 43,896 square feet, and is to St. Peter's as 1 : 4.55. The cathedral is much like the chapel at Fresnes built by Cotte, of which pl. 46, fig. 13, gives the ground plan, and fig. 14 a section. It consists of a fore church and a square that supports the dome, which is accompanied by three half domes over the niches.
4. The Church of the Sorbonne in Paris. Jacques Lemercier, who died poor in 1660 as first architect of the king (a fact of rare occurrence), built a great deal. His most important work was the church and college of the Sorbonne, finished under Richelieu in 1653 (pl. 47, fig. 9, ground plan, fig. 10, side view, fig. 11, lateral section). It forms a rectangle 150 feet long and 72 feet, 6 inches broad. Its dome, 38 feet wide, divides it into 2 equal halves. The middle aisle is 31 feet wide and 51 feet high. The cap of the dome ends at a height of 103 feet from the church floor, with an opening 6 feet wide. It rests upon walls 3 feet, 8 inches thick. Upon this wooden dome stands a lantern 32 feet high. The whole exterior height is 148 feet. Although the church belongs to the corrupt Italian style, it is yet one of the best conceptions of that time, and if the portal, instead of the heavy attic, had a gable, little could be said against the front.
5. The Church of the Assumption in Paris. A building of the better Italian style and among the most beautiful in Paris is the Church of the Assumption, built by Charles Errard (born at Nantes in 1606, died 1698), which was commenced in 1670 (pl. 47, fig. 12, ground plan, fig. 13, view, and fig. 14, section). The church was completed within six years and is a round building, finished upon one side with a portico of disengaged columns and covered with a dome 63 feet, 3 inches in diameter, equal to that of the church. It is only to be regretted that the drum of the dome is too high, and the substructure seems, therefore, too low, although the perspective naturally mitigates this effect. This would still more be the case if the substructure was either broader or the drum somewhat contracted. In the front row of the portico stand six Corinthian columns, 28 feet, 6 inches high, the middle ones at 2, the rest at 1\(\frac{1}{2}\) diameters distance. Behind each corner column stands a column at 1\(\frac{1}{2}\) diameters distance from it and 1 diameter from the front pillar. The dome is of wood and its highest point is 150 feet from the floor of the church. It is well cassetted and rests upon ten pair of coupled Corinthian pilasters, surmounted by a complete entablature, upon which the drum of the dome stands, on an attic.
6. The Church of St. Sulpice in Paris. After Notre Dame and Ste. Genevieve, St. Sulpice is the largest church in Paris. It is in the Faubourg St. Germain and is upon the site where St. Peter's chapel stood in 1211, whose crypt was again employed when the architect Gamarre projected a new and larger church. This church was found inadequate to the wants of the congregation, and Le Veau, therefore, made a new design, for whose execution the corner stone was laid in 1655. After Le Veau's death the work was prosecuted by Gillard, and Oppenoord finished the side aisles, the transept, and the northern side portal. From 1730 the architect Servandoni continued the work and undertook, from his own drawing, the completion of the principal façade (pl. 49, fig. 4, ground plan, fig. 5, elevation). But he could not complete the towers, which were to be 220 feet high. After his death, in 1777, Chagrin altered the plan again, by bringing the octagonal towers planned by Maclaurin into harmony with the façade; but he did not complete them.
The length of the church is 360 feet, the width 150 feet, and its ground plan is similar to that of Notre Dame. The middle aisle, like the side aisles, is 110 feet high. The pillars are 6 feet thick and stand 18 feet apart. The connecting arches begin 27 feet above the floor. The transept, of the same width, is surmounted by a vaulted dome 28 feet high at its intersection with the nave. In the rear of the choir gallery, which is 68 feet high, is the oval chapel of the Holy Virgin, 35 feet deep, 44 feet long, and 78 feet high, and surrounded with a wooden dome. The façade, which is 174 feet broad and executed after Servandoni's plan, has below four pairs of disengaged and four pairs of three-quarter columns of the Doric order. The former are 5 feet, 6 inches thick, and 43 feet high. Servandoni had introduced a gable between the bases of the towers, which was struck by lightning in 1770, and then removed.
VII. Plate 48: European Churches of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
7. The Pantheon, or the Church of St. Genevieve in Paris. With the erection of this church arose a new epoch in the architecture of Prance, as the corrupt Italian style was deserted and the forms of the antique were again introduced. The honor of this work belongs to Jacques Germain Soufflot (born at Irancy in 1714), who had studied in Rome. Whilst he was building the theatre in Lyons he went to Paris and was there named Director General of Public Buildings. The above-mentioned church was to be built at this time and Soufflot's plan was accepted, and in 1756 the corner stone of the church was laid. Pl. 48, fig. 3, shows the ground plan, fig. 4 the view, and fig. 5 the lateral section of the church. King Chlodovig had once built a church upon the same spot which was renewed in the 12th century, but in 1483 was ruined by lightning and finally replaced by the present building.
The form of the present church is a Greek cross formed of four aisles uniting under the dome. This at least was the wish of Soufflot, but the priests wished a lengthening of the choir and the main aisle. For this purpose pillar-arcades were introduced, which do not harmonize well with the columns. The desired two towers were also added in the rear of the nave, but they were afterwards removed. The beginning of the middle aisle forms a kind of fore hall, ovally vaulted, and with two tribunes. A third is over the entrance. The columns in the main aisle are 37 feet 8 inches high, and their axes are 14 feet apart. The diameter is 3 feet 6 inches, and the entablature one fifth of the height of the columns. The inner length to the wall of the niche is 282 feet, that of the transept 236 feet, and the inner width is 99 feet 4 inches. The middle aisle is 39 feet 6 inches wide, the side aisles only 9 feet 6 inches. The dome is 62 feet in diameter. The masonry occupies scarcely the 7th part of the whole area of the church, which is 52,992 square feet. It is very heavily taxed; for while the square foot of the pillars in St. Peter's sustains 21,910 pounds, and in St. Paul's church of London 36,059 pounds, the weight on the square foot in the Pantheon is 48,687 pounds. Each of the four principal pillars is 24 feet long and 14 feet 6 inches broad. They are connected by four large arches of 43 feet 2 inches span, and whose vertices are 69 feet 4 inches above the floor of the church. From them to the opening of the cap of the inner dome there is a height of 186 feet, 232 feet to the opening of the lantern in the third vault, and 258 feet to the top of the lantern. When the inner cap of the vault was finished in 1781, the pillars showed some cracks. Nevertheless the building was continued after a suspension of four years, occasioned by Soufflot's death, in 1782, with the erection of the peristyle of 36 columns around the drum. In 1788 the cupola proper was begin, and in 1790 the lantern was erected. On the 25th of August Quatremere de Quincy received the order to change the church into a mausoleum for those who had merited well of the country, and the church was called Pantheon. First the windows were all walled up and only those in the vault retained, by which the light was improved, as the church had been too light. The belfries were then removed, and all garlands, reliefs, and whatever indicated the church, were taken away. By the concussion occasioned by 200 laborers working without intermission more cracks appeared in the pillars and neighboring columns. Rondelet, who had prosecuted the building after Soufflot's death, investigated these, and found that they were partly attributable to the poor materials and partly to the reckless workmanship in the pillars. It was now intended to strengthen the pillars, as those of the crypt which supported them allowed their being made thicker. But the relatives of Soufflot protested against this alteration of his plan, and Rondelet finally conquered the difficulty by exchanging the poor stones and those that were improperly laid for good ones; and since then the Pantheon, which by Rondelet again was altered to a church, has required no further repairs.
8. The Madeleine at Paris. One of the most important modem buildings in Paris is St. Magdalen's church. In this the form of the ancient temples is entirely restored, and there is no trace of tower or cupola. Pl. 48, fig. 1, is the ground plan, fig. 2 the exterior perspective view, and pl. 46, fig. 1, the inner perspective view.
In the 15th century a chapel stood on its site, which was replaced by a church in 1660. About 1763 it was deemed necessary for the adornment of the city to build a large church in its place, and the architect Coutant d'Yvry drew a plan, a Greek cross with a dome, of which only a little was executed. In 1777 Couture made a new plan, also a Greek cross with a dome, peristyle, &c. But it was rejected, and the revolution intervened. At length in 1801 the government determined to erect, not a church, but a temple to the fame of the French nation, and the plan of the architect Vignon received the preference, after long consultations of various committees. The building has a substructure 12 feet high, to whose platform ascends on each narrow side an open flight of 32 steps. Forty-eight Corinthian columns form a grand peristyle around the building, eight columns in the front and rear and eighteen at the sides. The front portico contains four more placed behind the second and third front columns on each side. The building therefore is an octastylos peripteros, according to the classification of Vitruvius. The intercolumniations are 11 feet 8 inches, the diameter of the columns is 6 feet, and their height 58 feet 6 inches. The peristyle is 12 feet 3 inches broad, and the main wall is 6 feet thick. The breadth of the building is 138 feet; its length, without the steps, is 321 feet; and it covers an area of 44,298 square feet. In the interior are on each side four Corinthian columns 2 feet thick, for which the entablature is broken, and upon which rest the girt arches which support cassetted vaults with skylights, the only means of light save the door, which is 15 feet broad. Each of the Corinthian columns mentioned stands upon a pedestal which rests against pillars ornamented with pilasters. Under each arch stand two pair of Ionic columns, and between these four columns, which are placed upon stylobates, stand two pillars, in front of which are two Ionic columns supporting an entablature and a gable. In the interior of the apsis stand, upon a continuous stylobate, twelve Ionic columns 10 feet high, with their entablature, over which, up to the chief cornice, are several panels adorned with sculptures. When the monarchy was restored, the temple of glory was changed into a church and dedicated to St. Magdalen as the bas-relief on the front gable indicates.
9. The Chapel of St. Ferdinand at Sablonville. The unfortunate event which on the 13th of July, 1842, terminated the life of the Duke of Orleans, oldest son of Louis Philippe, was the occasion of the erection of a beautiful building, of which pl. 50, fig. 4, represents the perspective view. The King of the French bought from the civil list for 110,000 francs the house of Cordier in Sablonville, before which the accident occurred, removed it, and on its site the architects Fontaine and Lefranc erected a mausoleum that was consecrated on the 11th of July, 1843. It forms a Greek cross, and is of the Byzantine style, whose rigor is somewhat softened by several antique motives. A little turret with a cross surmounts the intersection of the aisles. In the right cross-arm is the altar of St. Ferdinand, in the left the cenotaph of the Duke, and in the high choir is the altar of our Lady of Compassion (Notre Dame de Compassion), whose statue also stands upon the exterior of the church in a niche of the wing. The three façades have rosette windows with painted glass representing Faith, Hope, and Charity. There are also arched windows with glass paintings from Sevres, representing various saints from designs of Ingres. The sacristy lies outside the chapel behind the high choir; and in the front wing, before which is a little open place, is the dwelling of the keeper. The cenotaph is executed in marble from designs by Ary Schefer; and a praying angel, one of the last works of the Princess Mary of Orleans, who died shortly before, is introduced.
Germany does not lack churches of the time of the decline of art, but as they are mere repetitions of the Italian and French churches of the period, we do not notice them, but pass at once to some of the most modern buildings of Berlin and Munich, where architecture is now especially cultivated.
1. The Court Church of All Saints in Munich. Although king Maximilian I. of Bavaria did much for his country in architecture, yet its new era was reserved for the reign of Louis I., and that king, equally enamored of poetry and art, did not spare his private treasure in making for Munich an artistic period like the Augustan age in Rome. In all the churches of this period, although the antique is not avoided, the preference is plain for the Byzantine and the old German styles.
VII. Plate 49: Major European Cathedrals
The Church of All Saints was built after the design of Leo v. Klenze. Pl. 46, fig. 8, shows the exterior, and pl. 49, fig. 7, the inner perspective view. The church is built in the style of the 11th and 12th centuries, which is preserved throughout in its strictest purity. A high middle aisle is accompanied by two lower side aisles, and is lighted by little semicircularly arched windows. The interior contains broad pillars, between which arches are sprung supporting vaults. The main nave is separated from the side aisles by arcades which support galleries. The arches and domes are richly painted in fresco, and are well lighted by the front windows of the nave.
2. The Church of Mary the Helper in the Faubourg Au in Munich. This church was designed and executed by the architect D. J. Ohlmüller. Pl. 49, fig. 8, represents the inner view. The church, of which the German style of the 13th century is the basis, consists of three aisles equally high; the side aisles are half as wide as the main aisle. The ribs of the vaults are artistically arranged, and the nineteen windows are covered with very beautiful glass painting. The façade has a chief tower with a perforated pyramid, and two small contiguous towers upon the corner pillars. A gallery extends around the roof between the pyramidal turrets which crown the buttresses. The church has no transept, and the end of the choir is semicircular. The church was completed in 1831.
3. The Basilica St. Boniface in Munich (pl. 46, fig. 9) was designed by the architect Ziebland, and beautifully painted in fresco by Henry Hess. On the 12th Oct., 1835, the corner stone of this basilica was laid, and in 1840 the building was so far completed that the fresco paintings could be commenced, and they were finished in 1844. The church, in which prevails the old basilica style, forms a long rectangle with four colonnades, five aisles, and a semicircular vaulted apsis. In the interior there are sixty-six disengaged columns in four rows. The columns of the middle aisle are connected by round arches, upon which rests the high wall of this aisle, containing the windows. The main walls, with the exception of some arch frames, are built of bricks in their natural color. The middle aisle is 262 feet long, 52 broad, and 83 feet high to the entablature. The framework of the roof is entirely uncovered, and the blue surface of the roof painted with gold stars is visible through it. Each of the side aisles is 18 feet broad, and 44 feet high, so that the whole breadth of the church is 124 feet. The columns are 25 feet high, and each consists of one block of grey marble, but the capitals of white marble, upon which are carved vines and ears of grain as allegorical representations of the wine and bread of the Last Supper. All the paintings with which the walls of the middle aisle, the wall of the choir, and the choir niches are covered, were executed after cartoons of the artist Henry Hess, and under his direction. They are frescoes upon a gold ground, and represent partly scenes from the life of St. Boniface, partly the propagation of Christianity, or finally are portraits of saints and popes.
4. The Parish and University Church of St. Louis in Munich. This church was designed and built by Fr. v. Gärtner in the style of the 14th century, and painted in fresco by Peter v. Cornelius. Pl. 50, fig. 2, represents the exterior perspective view of this church, which consists of three aisles, and has an open portico in front between the towers. The church and towers are of red brick, coated with a cement imitating white freestone. It was built at the suggestion and expense of the citizens of Munich, and has an inscription in the interior to that effect.
5. The Werder Church in Berlin. As Leo v. Klenze and Fr. v. Gärtner were the animating principles of architectural progress in Munich, so was Frederick Schinkel its genius in Berlin; and as they ornamented Bavaria, so did he Prussia, with buildings that indicate a pure sense of art, and the fruitful and earnest study of the architecture of all times and people. Schinkel's designs are diffused thoughout Germany, although Berlin is considered richest in them, and his school of architecture has sent forth a number of pupils who zealously strive to imitate his noble example. The design for the Werder Church, of which fig. 3 gives a perspective view from the south-west, was made in 1825, and was soon executed. The means appropriated for the building allowed only very simple forms in the exterior. Yet it lacks not ornament from the sculptures in burnt clay and moulded cornice-stones. Over the portal stands, after a design of Schinkel's, the archangel Michael, modelled by Wichmann, and the capitals also are finely executed in burnt clay. The interior of the church has a single aisle with five cross-vaults up to the high choir, which has a star-shaped vault of remarkable breadth and height, and makes a lofty and pleasing impression. It is beautifully decorated with, oil paintings by Begas, Schadow, and Wach. The entire building is exclusively of brick, and not plastered.
6. The Garrison Church at Potsdam. This was also designed by Schinkel. It was originally intended to be only a substructure of square ground plan (pl. 48, fig. 7), with a portico and a semicircular apsis supporting a drum surrounded by a peristyle, and having a double dome. The bells were to hang in the belfries forming the front corners of the ground plan with a fore hall between them, which were not to be higher than the substructure. The four corners were to be adorned with sculptures, statues of angels, and candelabra; but as it was found that the bells did not sound loud enough, the two small corner towers were made higher, and thus the building received the façade which fig. 8 represents. There are no columns in the interior of the church, except in the three cross-arms arising from the inclosure of the two corner towers, and the corresponding sacristy and confessional in the rear corners, where galleries are supported by light columns. The square of the church has a side of 135 feet, and the whole height to the wings of the angel upon the lantern is 232 feet, to the vertex of the dome only 200 feet.
When the English deserted the pointed-arch style and returned to the antique, Palladio became their model, and they have many buildings erected entirely according to his rules. We have selected for representation the most interesting edifice of this period, second in the whole world only to St. Peter's in Rome.
St. Paul's Church in London. Sir Christopher Wren (born 1632, died 1723) is justly reckoned among the most famous architects. He devoted himself with such zeal to mathematics, that in his 25th year he lectured upon astronomy. Upon his return from his travels through France and Italy, he was appointed first Royal Architect, in 1668. In 1666, when the old church of St. Paul, in spite of Inigo Jones's repairs, threatened to fall, it had been resolved to build a new church, and Wren began it after his own design on the 1st of June, 1675. Originally his idea was to erect a building in the basilica style, but the orthodox clergy demanded a new design, of which pl. 49, fig. 1, is the ground plan, fig. 2 the western façade, and fig. 3 a lateral section west of the dome.
The length of St. Paul's is 530 feet, and in some places the foundations are more than 40 feet deep. There is a crypt beneath. The ground plan forms a Latin cross, with a transept 252 feet long. The middle aisle is 42 feet wide between the pillars, and each side aisle is 20 feet wide. The height of the middle aisle is 90 feet, the inner vault of the dome is 216 feet above the church floor, the outer to the foot of the lantern 280 feet. The lantern with the cross is 80 feet, so that the whole height is 360 feet. Prom the street, however, as the church has a high substructure, it is 372 feet. The outer breadth of the dome is not quite 100 feet, and its height is 56 feet, whence the dome forms a half ellipsoid. The church is faced with Portland sandstone, and was completed in 35 years, for in 1710 Sir Christopher Wren had the gratification of laying the last stone of the lantern. The church cost £747,954. Upon the landing of the great steps are six pair of coupled Corinthian columns 4 feet thick and 40 feet high, which support a complete entablature and an attic 3 feet high, over which again stand four pairs of coupled Roman columns 3 feet 2 inches thick and 33 feet high. These support a frieze with consoles 2 feet 6 inches high, a few connecting mouldings, and finally a lofty gable. Both stories are overloaded with coupled pilasters, niches, and gable windows. On each side is a small belfry 100 feet high, surrounded by Roman columns. That the façade fails to make the grand impression anticipated from its proportions is attributable to the following reasons:
The use of coupled columns on the façade, and a slight inequality in the intercolumniations in the two stories.
The intersection of the façade by the lower chief cornice and by the attic.
The paralysation of the effect of the great architectonic lines in the whole façade by the many coupled pilasters, niches, and gable windows. And finally,
The tasteless details of the two small belfries, and the disproportionate height of the gable.
The effect of the interior, however, is weakened by no defects, and its grandeur of proportions and neatness of execution are well calculated to make a deep and lasting impression on the beholder. It contains a great number of noble monuments to England's great men, among which are those of Abercromby, Pitt, Nelson, &c. Sir Christopher Wren, the architect of the church, is buried in it. His epitaph, which is in Latin, is short and appropriate in every respect except in being in a foreign language; the concluding sentiment, though frequently quoted, is worth repeating for its felicity of expression: Lector, si monumentum requiris, circumspice (Reader, if you seek his monument, look around you).
At the time when Italy had only remains of the Roman monuments, and of the Greek and Etruscan, but already possessed large and beautiful Christian basilicas, when in France and Germany and England large churches shamed the works of past centuries, Russia was yet only inhabited by barbarians. In 957 the Russian princess Olga, the wife of Igor, was baptized in Constantinople, and returning to her native country, introduced civilization, together with the milder religion. From this period date the traces of the new Greek architecture which we meet here and there, as, for instance, the Kremlin in Moscow, built in the 14th century and destroyed in the year 1812. When Peter the Great removed his residence to the city of Petersburg, which he had founded, Russian edifices began to be built in a regular and modern style. Of these we have selected two for our account.
VII. Plate 50: European Churches of Various Architectural Periods
Engraver: A. Krausse
1. The Chapel of the Knights of Malta in St. Petersburg. The Emperor Paul I. had given a palace in St. Petersburg to the Knights of Malta, and permitted them at the same time to erect a Catholic chapel. At that time Giacomo Quaranghi lived in St. Petersburg (born in 1744 at Bergamo, and died there in 1820), and the knights applied to him for a design for the chapel, which would certainly have been very beautiful if they had executed the portico he designed. But instead of this, the building, founded on the 23d of August, 1798, received a façade which is represented in pl. 50, fig. 11, which has four Corinthian half columns, and two small columns with a gable as door ornament; fig. 10 represents the ground plan and the manner in which the chapel is united with the palace, and fig. 12 the lateral section of the chapel. The interior is in the basilica form, ending in a large apsis. Two rows of yellow marble columns divide the church into three aisles 51 feet high. The breadth of the chapel is 50 feet, its length 100 feet.
2. St. Isaac's Church in St. Petersburg. After the fire which destroyed in 1710 the wooden church of St. Isaac of Dalmatia, standing upon the site now occupied by the statue of Peter the Great, and the two churches of the same saint which were in time built in another place, after designs by Maternowi and Rainaldi, had fallen into decay, the emperor Alexander I. resolved to rebuild it in a simple but effective manner, and intrusted Monferrand with the design, which was accepted, and the erection of the building commenced on the 8th July, 1819. Pl. 47, fig. 7, shows the ground plan, fig. 8 the elevation of this church. Its exterior length is 312 feet, the inner 297 feet 6 inches, and the greatest breadth is 192 feet. It covers 580,322 square feet, and is consequently somewhat smaller than Notre Dame in Paris, and is to St. Peter's as 1 : 3.44. On each long side, one of which fronts on the Place of the Admiralty, opposite the statue of Peter the Great and the Neva, is a portico, closely imitated from that of the Pantheon at Rome, but much more imposing, as the columns, which consist each of a single block of Finland marble, are 12 feet higher than those of the Pantheon, being 56 feet high. The capitals and bases of the columns are cast in bronze. The short sides, which are east and west, have also porticoes, but less projecting, which were demanded by the rules of the Greek ritual, according to which the high altar must he placed in the east and the church doors in the west. The interior is roofed with cassetted cylindrical vaults, which rest upon pillars decorated with columns and pilasters. The columns of the sanctuary are partly of jasper, partly of porphyry. Over the middle of the church is a dome 87 feet 4 inches in diameter, and whose height is 275 feet, and with the lantern, 327 feet from the church floor. The drum is surrounded by a superb Corinthian peristyle, whose entablature supports an attic with a balustrade, upon whose cubes stand statues of angels. The acroteria are also adorned with statues. Four small belfries covered with domes, on the corners of the middle building, injure the otherwise fine effect of this beautiful edifice.
We must here again begin with Italy, because in this country, while the German style reigned elsewhere supreme, even in secular buildings, the introduction of a new style had commenced, which afterwards spread through Europe. We mention the prominent buildings in chronological order.
VII. Plate 52: Palatial Architecture of Various Periods
1. The Cancelleria in Rome. Bramante, whom we have already mentioned, meets us again in the most beautiful palaces of Home. The palace of the Papal Cancelleria (pl. 52, fig. 3), whose right side includes the church of San Lorenzo in Damaso, which was restored about twenty years ago, is among the most noticeable of Roman buildings. Its façade, 254 feet long, is built of travertine taken from the old Coliseum. Two ranges of pilasters ornament the broad window-piers of the two chief stories, while the lower story has windows raised above a substructure of freestone in rustication. A bolder profile would be desirable in the cornices. The court of columns is especially beautiful, which below, as in the first story, consists of four pillars and twenty-two Tuscan columns, connected by semicircular arches, and whose passages have cross-vault ceilings. The shafts of the columns are each of a single block of granite, taken from the Basilica of San Lorenzo, which stood upon this spot.
2. The Casa Silvestri in Rome, of which pl. 52, fig. 10a shows the ground plan, fig. 10b the front, and fig. 10c the rear view, is said to have been commenced by Baldassare Peruzzi of Volterra about 1502, although many, and probably justly, ascribe it to Michael Angelo. It is a small building, with a meagre main cornice, and overladen with subordinate cornices. The ground plan is like the antique Roman buildings, one of which is represented in fig. 11; but the windows are too narrow, and disagreeable divisions arise from the omission of the vertical joints in the rustication of the first story.
3. The Palazzo Giraud in Rome (fig. 9) was begun by Bramante in 1504. It is situated beyond the Tiber, and was built for the Cardinal Corneto. It is almost a copy on a smaller scale of the Cancelleria, save that the windows of the first and third stories are alike. The pilasters here, as in the Cancelleria, project a little from the walls, a plan which deserves to be imitated. Yet here also the main cornice is too insignificant, and the upper windows are too low.
4. The Palazzo Sora in Parione in Rome was built by Bramante in 1505. Its façade (fig. 6) is well massed, but the windows of the second story have three-cornered and round pediments, to which the under cornices offer an unfavorable contrast. The columned court of this palace is very beautiful.
[5.] The Palazzo del Te in Mantua, of which pl. 57, fig. 9, shows the ground plan, was begun about 1520 by Giulio Pippi, known as Giulio Romano. The name is derived probably, not from any resemblance to the letter T, which does not exist, but from an abbreviation of the word Tejetta (drainage), for the palace stands upon a ground drained by water furrows. The principal ground plan forms an exact square of 180 feet side, and incloses a court of 120 feet side. This court has two entrances, the principal one, consisting of a great gate with an arch in rustication, leading into a vestibule ornamented with columns, while the other, which is located at one of the sides, has three arches built in the same taste. The façades of the palace, both in front and rear, consist of an order of Doric pilasters, coupled at the comers. The panels with rustication in the lower story are interrupted by window openings which relieve the heaviness. The façades are surmounted by a Doric entablature with triglyphs and metopes. Prom the court, where instead of pilasters is an order of coupled wall columns, a loggia leads into the garden. The façade of this side represents a peristyle of 12 columns, two deep and coupled. The centre intercolumniation communicates with a bridge which separates two water basins. Beyond this is a parterre with greenhouses and household buildings. The garden terminates in a large semicircle. The length of the whole estate is 550 feet. The interior of the building is arranged in a masterly manner, and decorated with paintings by Giulio Romano and his pupils.
6. The Palazzo Sacchetti in Rome (originally called Casa San Gallo) was designed and built by San Gallo (died 1546) for himself, in the year 1530. Pl. 52, fig. 7, represents its façade. It is 111 feet broad and has a very beautiful door. The windows are four feet broad and are placed 9 feet, 3 inches apart. Those of the first story are unfortunately a foot narrower above than below. The main cornice is 3 feet in height and of the same projection, and is to the height of the building as 1 : 17. The rectangular court is surrounded by arcades beneath, resting upon imposts between which stand Tuscan pilasters.
7. The Palazzo Paolo in Rome (fig. 5) was built by Torriani, a pupil of San Gallo, with a handsome door and otherwise of good proportions, although the middle windows, from the varying width of the piers, fail to make an agreeable impression.
8. The Villa Medici in Rome, at present the French Academy, built by Alessandro Lippi, about 1551, is a well proportioned building. The width of the piers between the windows, the upper of which are, however, a little too low, as well as the pure and bold profile of the girth and main cornices, whose height and projection are equal to one seventeenth of the height of the façade, shows the pure taste of the architect. A vestibule towards the court and garden is especially good. It is supported by six beautiful Ionic columns; pl. 52, fig. 8a, shows the front façade, fig. 8b the ground plan of the lower story.
9. The Palazzo Saoli in Genoa was built in 1553 by Alessi, who was for Genoa what Bramante was for Rome. This palace is a master-piece. It has two façades, as it is a corner house, and a garden lies before one of the façades. The street façade, including the entrance, has five openings in rustication constructed so judiciously as to make a very agreeable impression. The middle of the upper story consists of arcades upon columns, with a window upon both sides, with coupled pilasters, over which is a balcony. The interior of the court (pl. 51, fig. 5) is surrounded by two stories of piazzas, or vaulted galleries of marble columns, and has a magnificent effect, as well as the staircase. The extraordinary grandeur of these galleries is attained by connecting the columns in pairs by complete entablatures, and these again by arches sprung from their ends, whilst the vaults abut between and on the arches. The main cornice is well profiled, but too richly ornamented.
10. The Papal Palace in Rome. Domenico Fontana (born 1553, died 1607), known by a large number of fine buildings in Rome, by command of Pope Sixtus V., enlarged the Vatican with a building, the Palazzo di Papa Sisto V., briefly termed the Papal Palace. Pl. 52, fig. 4, represents this building. It makes a grand impression, although it is not a large edifice. The round and triangular pediments over the door and centre window can, however, hardly be justified by good taste. The main cornice is beautifully and boldly profiled.
11. The Palazzo Doria Tursi est Genoa was begun in 1590 by Rocco Lurago, and is at present the property of the king of Sardinia. Pl. 54, fig. 3, shows the façade. It is almost too crowded with pilasters and gable-windows to be classed unreservedly with the good Italian style. On each side the fine vaulted portico supports a terrace adjoining the second story of the building. The cornice is remarkable for its very great consoles. The staircase, approached from the spacious vestibule, is numbered among the most perfect. The court is surrounded with columns and half columns connected by arches.
VII. Plate 51: Secular Architecture of the Renaissance and Baroque Eras
12. Palazzo Caseeta near Naples. One of the largest European buildings of the last century is the Palace of Caserta near Naples. Vanvitelli, or more properly Louis van Witel of Utrecht, planned it and laid the corner stone on the 20th January, 1752. Pl. 51, fig. 1, represents the ground plan of the lower story, fig. 2 that of the main story, fig. 3 the elevation, and fig. 4 the section of the palace. The building has four courts and occupies an area of 410,480 square feet. Each of the two principal fronts has a large portal and two side entrances. On every corner is a pavilion of 161 feet in height and in the centre between the courts a dome covering the great vestibule, whose height is 183 feet from the floor. The main story, which is 26 feet high, rests upon a substructure which has two stories, each 18 feet high. The great saloons in the main story extend through the upper building and are 45 feet high. The windows are 5 feet, 6 inches wide in the clear, and are placed 10 feet apart. Those of the main story are 12 feet high. Over this story is still another, 21 feet high, and an intersole, 12 feet high. In the middle of each façade stand four Ionic columns, and as many in the façades of the pavilions, which have flat roofs surrounded by balustrades. The plan of the arcades, which are 45 feet high, and connect the two portals, is magnificent. They have four passages, and in the middle they form the octagonal vestibule which contains the great staircase. At each portal is a vestibule ornamented with eight Corinthian columns. The columns consist each of a single block of ash-grey Sicilian marble. The great staircase, which also leads to the royal chapel, whose ceiling is supported by sixteen Corinthian marble columns, has steps 19 feet, 6 inches long, each of a single block of marble. In one side of the building is a theatre extending through two stories.
VII. Plate 54: Neo-Classical Architecture in France and Rome
In order to show the style in which the Roman palaces were finished, we have represented in pl. 54, figs. 6–9, four superb doors from various palaces, and also in fig. 4 one of the many Roman fountains, the Fontana Paolina, not far from the church San Pietro in Promontorio upon the Janiculus. It was executed by Jacob Fontana, and is fed by the aqueduct of Bracciano, which, lies 36 miles from Rome. Three large and two small arcades, whence falls the water in three streams into the broad basin, form the fountain. Between the arcades there are five half columns of granite, and over them an attic with an inscription, and then an arched superstructure with two angels bearing the papal arms. As an offset to this example of tastelessness, built in 1560, we give in fig. 5 the ancient fountain of Marius, not far from Rome, and it is curious to observe how human taste, when such guides were near, could go so far astray as to produce the Fontana Paolina.
1. The Louvre in Paris. Of French palaces, the Louvre at Paris claims the priority of age: for in the 8th and 9th centuries there stood upon its site a palace of the King of France, which in 1529 was so ruinous that Francis I. determined to build a new palace in its place. Sebastian Serlio and Francis Lescot drew plans for it, and the latter was accepted. But at the death of Lescot even the wing towards the Tuileries, the old Louvre, was not yet completed. Its court façade (pl. 52, fig. 2) has in the centre a projection (le grand avant corps), and a little one on each side and in the corners. These avant corps are repeated on the other sides of the court. Before them stand forty-six. pairs of fluted Corinthian three-quarter columns 2 feet thick and 19 feet 2 inches high, placed on high pedestals. Before the receding parts (arrière corps) are thirty-two pilasters of the same order ornamenting the window piers. Similar orders of columns and pilasters are repeated before the main story but in the Roman style, and each order has its full entablature. The ground floor is 33 feet high, the main story 29 feet. The length and depth of the Louvre are 525 feet. After Lescot's death Lemercier erected, over the middle of the wing towards the Tuileries, a high balustrade, and over that a rectangular drum with a dome of framework which covers a large hall, resting in part on caryatides executed by Jean Goujon. Lemercier (born 1629) continued the wing towards the Seine, to the façade of which Claude Perrault afterwards added the remarkably beautiful colonnade represented in elevation and ground plan in pl. 52, fig. 1. The three older façades towards the court were then made to harmonize with it. After Perrault's death Gabriel continued the building of the upper part of the three older façades according to his own idea. When Louis XIV. wished to finish the Louvre there was a disagreement about the form of the outer façades. At the suggestion of Colbert, Bernini was summoned from Rome to Paris, but his plans were not approved of. It was then that Perrault designed his colonnade, which was completed in 1670. It consists of coupled fluted Corinthian columns 3 feet 9 inches thick and 38 feet high, placed upon pedestals over the lower story, and supporting an excellently profiled entablature, whose height is 2\(\frac{1}{4}\) columnar diameters. The column-couples are placed at distances of 3 diameters; the two middle ones 6 diameters' distance from each other. The four couples, or eight columns, in the centre support a triangular gable, whose crown cornice consists of two stones 54 feet long and 28 inches high. The façade towards the Rue le Coq has much beauty, especially an imposing carriage portal. In 1755 the exterior of the Louvre was completed. After the palace had been left to itself almost forty years Percier and Fontaine were ordered by Napoleon to improve it and arrange the interior tastefully. They opened the niches between the columns of the colonnade and changed them into windows. The two divisions of the colonnade were united over the middle door with a horizontal ceiling, so that now the communication appears no longer to be interrupted by the great arch. In spite of the triangular pediments over the windows of the main story, this façade is justly regarded as one of the finest of modern times, owing to the correctness of its proportions.
2. The Palace of the Tuileries in Paris was commenced in 1364 by command of Catharine di Medici, by Philibert Delorme and Jean Bullart, but was again abandoned until Henry IV. caused it to be continued on an altered plan by Ducerceau and Dupérai. It was finally completed under Louis XIV. by Louis le Beau and François d'Orbois. Pl. 53, fig. 1, gives a view of the Tuileries from the Place du Carrousel. The employment of so many architects has had the effect of producing a singular arrangement: there are roofs of five different shapes, and the whole building is without any essential aesthetic unity of design. The windows, which are six feet wide, have throughout piers of no greater breadth. Those of the first and second stories are 18 feet high; of the third, 16 feet. The entablature of the pilasters is intersected by the windows of the second story, and in the upper there are small pilasters standing over those beneath. The roof is disproportionately high, higher than half of the building. Altogether there are five pavilions, among which, besides the clock pavilion in the centre, the northern is interesting as the residence of Napoleon, of the Duchess of Berry, and finally of the Duke of Orleans; and the southern as the residence of Pope Pius VII. in 1804, of Charles X., and finally of Louis Philippe.
3. The Luxembourg Palace in Paris. When, after the death of Henry II., Maria di Medici wanted a palace for her own residence, she bought, in 1611, the old Palais Luxembourg, had it removed, and ordered Desbrosses to build a palace, of which the corner-stone was laid in 1615, and the Palazzo Pitti in Florence served as model. The plan of the Palais Luxembourg (pl. 53, fig. 4) is a rectangle. It has six large square pavilions, and is very regular. The north side has a row of arcades, over which there is an open terrace, which is divided into two parts by the dome over the entrance. The system of rustication prevails throughout the building, and there are no columns, scarcely any pilasters, and thence the building has an appearance of great strength, but it is also monotonous. The small dome is unimportant in itself, but it very happily interrupts the long line between the pavilions. The walls here recede above the main story, forming two galleries. Upon the middle pavilion is a sun-dial, upon which the meridian of mean time is indicated.
4. The Navy Department and the Garde-Meubles in Paris. In the year 1763 the Place Louis XV., now the Place de la Concorde, was designed. It was completed in 1772. Upon the north of this place stand two large buildings 288 feet long. Before the ground story of each is a row of arcades 10 feet wide, which form a covered passage 9 feet broad and 25 feet high. On both sides (fig. 2) of the façade are pavilions, upon whose substructures of bound masonry are four Corinthian columns crowned with a triangular gable, whose sides rest on pilasters. Between the pavilions stand twelve Corinthian columns 30 feet high and three feet thick, forming a terrace over the lower passage. The columns extend through two stories and stand 11 feet apart. These buildings were originally designed as storehouses of the furniture and jewels of the crown (Gardes-Meubles); but one was changed into the present Navy Department. Jacques Gabriel, a pupil of Hardouin Mansard, was the architect of these edifices, and they have the advantage of the Louvre in not having their columns coupled, whilst on the other hand they are too weak and low and their distances too great.
5. The Palace at Versailles. The royal pleasure grounds at Versailles were first planned by Louis XIII., but Louis XIV. caused the present palace to be erected after Leveau's designs. It is 1320 feet in length, and consists of a centre building with two wings. Its finest part is the grand colonnade after Mansard's design, fronting towards the garden. Pl. 54, fig. 1, gives the view of it. Unhappily the chief masses of the palace are injured by many projections and recedings, by which all the great architectonic lines are destroyed. The great entrance is truly insignificant, hidden as it is between the rear wings inclosing the open court which is 70 feet wide. The interior of the palace is magnificent, and Louis Philippe placed there the Museum, whose treasures are all of the grandest historical interest to France. One of the finest halls is the so called Battle Gallery (fig. 2) in the southern part of the ground story. It is 327 feet long, lighted from above, and contains in paintings, mostly by Horace Vernet, the history of Napoleon's campaigns from 1796–1815, and of the French campaign in Algiers. Some of the paintings are of enormous size: the Battle of Isly for instance is 90 feet long. The busts of Napoleon and of the members of his family are also placed there.
Belgium and Holland
A league and a half from Brussels, near the canal to Malines, is the pleasure palace of Laeken, erected in 1782 after the designs of Montemayor, but the interior was executed by Payen. Pl. 51, fig. 6, shows the ground plan, pl. 53, fig. 5, the front elevation. The façade is in the French style, and has in the centre a portico of four Ionic columns placed at distances of three and a half diameters, and on the corners pavilions with pilasters. The round hall in the rear of the vestibule is surrounded with twelve Corinthian columns, and covered with a dome, and is considered to be a structure of great architectonic value.
VII. Plate 55: Neo-Classical Architecture in Germany and Holland
The Royal Residence in Amsterdam, built by Jacob Van Campen, born in Harlaem (d. 1658), is without question the most beautiful building in Holland. The grandeur of its masses, the regularity of its plan, the beauty of its construction, the richness of its decoration, all combine to make it one of the finest creations of modern architecture. Pl. 55, fig. 4, gives the elevation, fig. 5 the ground plan of the ground story, and fig. 6 that of the second and third stories. The dome, which is wanting in the elevation, is represented to the right, the line A A being that of its connexion with the clock tower. The building stands upon 13,659 piles driven into the morass, and forms a large rectangle of 282 feet in length and 222 feet in breadth. The plan is imposing, the interior arrangement judicious, the communications convenient and easy, and all combined with taste and skill. The height of the façade is 116 feet. Upon a large substructure, forming a very subordinate story, with seven low entrances, there are two tiers of pilasters, the upper belonging to the composite, the lower to the Corinthian order. They are 36 feet high, each reaching through a story and an intersole. The façade has three projections, the middle one being both broader and deeper than those at the ends. This middle projection has a gable with a beautiful bas-relief representing the power of Amsterdam, and the acroteria of the gable support bronze statues twelve feet high.
The castles and palaces of England are for the greater part of the mediæval style, which was widely employed for secular buildings after it had yielded in other countries to the Italian, and it is still much used. Next to that we find the manner of Palladio, and especially in country seats, which are often of very great extent. Such, for instance, is the country seat of the Duke of Argyle in Dumbarton county in Scotland, whose ground plan (pl. 51, fig. 7) is much like the castle at Laeken, and whose façade is almost precisely the same.
A considerable degree of luxury has always prevailed in the building of theatres, not alone among the Greeks and Romans, but in modern times; and there has been an effort to give them an exterior adequate to the sumptuous splendor which characterizes the modern dramatic art. In the division of this work devoted to the Fine Arts we shall speak of the plans of theatres, and especially of their interior construction, and therefore will here record only one of the most beautiful German theatres, begun in 1837 and finished in 1840, the theatre in Dresden, designed and executed by Semper (pl. 57, fig. 4), and one of the largest theatres, that of St. Petersburg, built about thirty years ago by Montron (fig. 5, front view; fig. 6, ground plan).
The appearance of the Dresden Theatre is unique in this, that its exterior is of the same form as the interior. The chief entrance is at the end of the ellipse, while the carriage portico is at the side. The upper part of the façade is rather heavy for the fine, light arcades of the lower. In the interior arrangement, the judicious distribution of the apartments, and the spacious vestibule and foyer, deserve unqualified praise. The latter are remarkable for their beautiful fresco paintings.
The Theatre in St. Petersburg was built under the Emperor Alexander, and is singularly regular. By the arrangement of the rear, it is susceptible of being enlarged upon special occasions. As it is 360 feet deep in itself, enlargement is, however, very rarely required. The façade, with its eight Ionic columns, is imposing.
St. Charles Theatre, in New Orleans (fig. 7), fails in its exterior, and may be quoted as an example of bad arrangement of the façade. The portico reaches through two stories, and is covered with a heavy gable. There are Corinthian columns above, standing upon high pedestals. It is much too heavy for the open wall behind, which seems hardly calculated to support the heavy superstructure.
During the two last centuries, the care for the better arrangement and preservation of objects of art, like the sense of true art, had apparently lost all vitality. Only recently have objects of art begun to be collected in buildings specially constructed for the purpose, and affording greater convenience of observation and study. We have selected a few of the best buildings of this kind for special notice.
The Museum in Cassel (fig. 13), which contains also the library, was planned by du Ry. It is 294 feet long, and its façade is decorated with Ionic pilasters, and has a portico of eight Ionic columns. Over the large round hall is a tolerably high dome, with a drum, surrounded by Corinthian pilasters. Although the whole makes a pleasant impression, yet the details belong to a period whose predominant corrupt taste precludes the possibility of anything very beautiful. Nevertheless, the building has just claims to admiration from its perfect interior arrangement.
King Louis I., of Bavaria, in order to collect into appropriate buildings the various treasures of art dispersed in his palaces, and amassed during his travels, built in Munich the Pinacothek for the paintings, and for the sculptures the Glyptothek. Of the latter, pl. 53, fig. 6, shows the ground plan, and pl. 56, fig. 2, the perspective view. It was commenced in 1816 and completed in 1830, and reflects the highest honor on its architect, Leo V. Klenze. It surrounds a rectangular court, and is built in the Grecian style. In front is a portico of eight, in the rear one of four, Ionic columns. As the whole hall is lighted from above and from the inner court, it has no exterior windows, but in place of them niches, in which are placed statues of famous painters and sculptors. There are nine colossal figures in the front gable, representing Minerva and the plastic arts. The interior contains twelve halls, with friezes and ceilings painted in fresco by Cornelius, Haydegger, Zimmermann, Hermann, and others, and marble floors. The correctness of its proportions, and the noble simplicity of its motivos, make this building a model of good taste, worthy of being minutely studied by architects, along with the finest monuments of antiquity.
Opposite the Grlyptothek is the newly built edifice for the exhibitions of art and industry (fig. 3, perspective view). This building is similar to the opposite one in form and plan, but very inferior to it in point of correctness and decoration, besides having the great fault of not answering the purpose for which it was constructed, since its door is so small that wall-paintings cannot be brought in for exhibition. The eight columns of the portico are very beautiful, and of the Corinthian order. In the gable-field is likewise a rich sculpture composition, representing Minerva as the tutelar deity of the arts and crafts. The general effect of the building is very good, and if it were not for the gem opposite it would certainly command considerable admiration.
City and Council Houses. Government Buildings.
The council houses of cities and houses erected for the meetings of the legislative bodies of states or confederacies, are usually, in their exterior appearance, expressive of the dignity of their purpose. Their prominent features are, generally, durability and simplicity, though from the latter rule there are some notable exceptions. We have selected a few examples of this class of buildings.
The City Hall at Maestricht, of which pl. 55, fig. 7, is a view, was erected in the middle of the eighteenth century, and rests entirely upon a mass of piles, over which is a tolerably high substructure. This is ascended by two flights of steps, which lead to the portico consisting of four Ionic columns upon high pedestals. The façade has two tiers of pilasters. The lower ones are Ionic, placed upon high pedestals, whose cornices extend across the entire front. These pilasters support a complete entablature, and upon that is the second tier of Corinthian pilasters, resting also upon pedestals. The middle building rises over the chief cornice, and has Roman pilasters, whose entablature supports a gable with good reliefs. Over the whole is a bell-tower with arched openings and covered with a dome. The building is, on the whole, well proportioned, although many of the details lack good taste.
Much better is the town-hall in Neuenburg in Wirtemberg, built in the present century, and of which pl. 55, fig. 9, shows the view, and fig. 8 the ground plan. The portico, of six Ionic columns, is well proportioned, and the arcade which ornaments the front side is of good effect. The windows are rather low, which is the more striking on account of the heavy cornices over them. The large hall in the interior, extending through two stories, is very beautiful. Its two tribunes rest upon six Corinthian columns each.
The Capitol at Washington, of which pl. 56, fig. 1, gives a perspective view, is the seat of the Congress and of the Supreme Court of the United States of North America. This handsome building, erected in the year 1814, is elevated upon a hill 78 feet high, and consists entirely of marble. It is 362 feet long, 120 feet deep, and has three domes, the highest of which is 120 feet. The front of the building has a portico of eight Corinthian columns, with a wing-portico of five columns on each side, receding about one columnar distance, and bears a finely decorated gable. On the rear is a colonnade of 10 Corinthian columns, forming a gallery in front of the library room. The windows on the whole circumference of the building are laid between Corinthian pilasters. The façades would merit to be classed among the best, if it were not for the tasteless mixture of differently shaped windows. The interior plan is susceptible of great improvement, as there is a sad want of room for the transaction of business. Besides, no regard has been had in the construction to the laws of acoustics, so that the edifice is far from being adequate to its purpose. The great rotunda in the middle of the principal floor is surmounted by the great dome, which is very valuable in point of construction.
VII. Plate 56: Public Buildings in the Neo-Classical Style
Exchange buildings would answer their nearest purpose of affording places of meeting for merchants for the transaction of mutual business, if they were merely, as in former times, spacious inclosures sheltered from the weather by roofs only. Such were the ancient Greek stoæ, and similar halls or inclosures were for a long time found all-sufficient for the wants of the merchants. More recently, however, it has been found very convenient to connect with these places of meeting a number of offices with which the greater number of merchants have daily business, and hence the open halls have been abandoned for solid, and for the most part magnificent edifices, affording room for banks, insurance companies, commercial reading-rooms, and sometimes the post-office, besides the great hall where the merchants and brokers meet for business transactions. The plans of the Exchanges of Paris (pl. 56, fig. 6, ground floor, fig. 7, upper story) and of Ghent (fig. 8, ground floor, fig. 9, upper story) will serve as illustrations; the large halls being the places of meeting, the smaller apartments serving various purposes of the above-mentioned nature.
The Exchange in Paris (fig. 5, perspective view) was built after the designs of Brogniart. It forms a rectangle of 69 metres by 41, and is erected on a substructure about 3 metres high, on which is a peristyle of 66 Corinthian columns, 1 metre in diameter and 10 metres high. The entablature resting on these columns is surmounted by an attic without any ornament, which hides the roof. The wall proper is interrupted by two rows of windows, separated by a Doric entablature. The introduction of these tasteless windows in connexion with the beautiful peristyle, is altogether unaccountable. Much superior in this respect is the granite portico of the Exchange in New York (fig. 4, perspective view), which exhibits a perfect unity of taste, and is one of the boldest edifices of recent times.
The Exchange of London (fig. 11) has a fine portico of eight Roman columns, but the whole façade is spoiled by the tasteless arched windows and the door behind it, as well as by two entirely inappropriate arches in the attic over the gable.
The Old Exchange in Amsterdam, of which we have given a section in pl. 57, fig. 14, has the original character of this style of building, a large court surrounded by covered galleries as protection against the weather, and in the upper story the necessary rooms for business and chambers of commerce.
The plan of the building for a university must be modified by the various necessities arising from the number of professors, of necessary recitation rooms, of students, of laboratories, museums, &c., and no general rules can be given. But as this is a matter of theoretical architecture, we will here confine ourselves to the description of a few buildings belonging to this class. One of the most modern buildings of this kind is the University of Ghent, whose façade is seen in pl. 56, fig. 10. It was erected at the expense of the city of Ghent, and was designed and executed by Rouland. It contains a fine round hall, whose cassetted dome is supported by eighteen Corinthian columns, and surmounted by a lantern through which the hall is lighted. This hall is reached by a double-armed state staircase with twelve columns, whose wood-work ceiling is also cassetted, and through a superb vestibule, whose ceiling rests on four Corinthian columns. Before the building is a grandiose portico consisting of eight Corinthian granite columns, the field of whose gable is decorated by an excellent bas-relief.
The Paris Observatory (pl. 57, fig. 3, ground plan; fig. 2, northern façade) was built under Louis IV. by Claude Perrault. The building consists of four chief parts: of the centre, a rectangular tower whose sides face the four quarters of the heavens, the north projection with a gable, and two octagonal towers on the ends of the south side of the building. In the elevation the building has, besides the ground floor, a kind of intersole and a main story, and is covered with a flat roof. The great windows of the main floor are arched and all the stories are vaulted. Through all the vaults an open space passes in the middle of the building to the cellar, for experiments with freely falling bodies. The building is extremely sound, and throughout in a pure style, so that it makes a good impression. But a great fault is that it is so inadequately planned that on the east side a new building was necessary for the astronomical observations. This fault is ascribed to Cassini.
Assembly Houses
VII. Plate 57: Monumental and Public Architecture of Various Periods
These buildings, again, depend for their plan upon many circumstances, as whether the place is much visited, whether it is for men only, and has consequently reading-rooms, billiard, and coffee-rooms, or whether balls and assemblies are held there. One of the prettiest edifices of the kind is the Casino in Liège (fig. 10, view; fig. 11, ground plan of the ground floor; fig. 12, plan of the upper story). The building stands upon a terraced hill, and has in front a grand double-armed staircase which leads to the terrace before the building. In the rear the ground floor divides into two parts, between which is the carriage way. Upon the ground floor of the front there are great halls and card rooms. In the rear building is the staircase and some other assembly rooms. The first story contains in the front building the great ball room, and on both sides terraces over the card rooms of the ground floor. As the carriage way is built over in the upper story, the rooms of the rear building communicate immediately with those in front.
A peculiar kind of buildings for guests are the Persian Caravansaries. These buildings are especially devoted to the entertainment of caravans. Erecting them is a meritorious work, and they are under a public superintendent. They take the place of our assembly and coffee-houses. They consist generally of a four or eight-cornered court, mostly with a fountain in the centre, and surrounded by the building, affording opportunity for exercise either under the arcades or in the free air. Pl. 57, fig. 15 a and b, are ground plans of such caravansaries. The building around the court consists only of single cells. The outer ones serve as shops for the traders or as coffee-houses, the inner ones for lodging the travellers, who make themselves at home there, and must themselves provide for their wants. The beasts are also sheltered here. The institution of caravansaries is very old, for Herodotus mentions them and calls them catalysais.
Watch-Houses, Custom-Houses, Excise-Houses
Custom-houses are situated either at the gates of cities, if they serve for the reception of the barrier tax, and are then called excise-houses, and are very subordinate buildings, at most an ornament of the gate, or they are destined for the collection of the state duties, and stand then generally near the wharfs or freight depôts. They contain various offices, a hall of sessions for the officials, and sometimes dwellings for one or more of them. The custom-house of New York (fig. 8), built in a fine old Doric style, is admirable as an ornament, but certainly suggests upon the exterior anything rather than a building for the collection of duties. The façade, of a fine Greek temple style, is built of white marble, and being placed on a considerable substructure, has a very good effect.
Watch-houses are public buildings for the accommodation of soldiers or officials who have charge of the public peace. They are therefore very simple, often included in the excise building, or are decorations of the gate and the open square. They contain nothing but the rooms for the officers and men, and a chamber of confinement for the arrested delinquents. The decoration of these buildings is very various. Those of the residential cities are usually very handsome. When Paris was made a fortress, a certain system was introduced in this matter. Watch-houses were placed in the interior of the city (pl. 57, fig. 16a, ground plan fig. 16b, elevation), and were manned by strong detachments of the National Guard, and Vedette houses (fig. 17) for subordinate posts. These watch-houses are so arranged that they can be defended for some time against a superior force; some are even furnished with light cannon.
Honorary Monuments
Honorary monuments are erected either for the commemoration of great events or of great men, and there are very various ideas of their construction from a simple statue to columns and arches of honor. The use of them dates from the most remote antiquity, but modern times have abounded in monuments to individuals, many of whom were very much honored and very little fed while they lived. We will describe some of these modern monuments.
In commemoration of the great victory which Napoleon had achieved as in a whirlwind, he resolved in the year 1806 to erect a superb triumphal arch, the present Arc de l'Etoile in Paris (pl. 57, fig. 1). The ground was so unstable that an artificial foundation was necessary to secure the building. When Napoleon married Maria Louisa of Austria, the building was scarcely above the foundation, and it was finished for the occasion of their entrance into Paris with wooden scaffoldings, covered with linen and painted, so that the architect Chalgrin had the rare fortune of seeing the model of his building in the natural size. In 1811 it was continued by the architect Goust; in 1814 it was interrupted; and in 1823 Huyot and Goust began it again. In 1828 it stopped again, and in 1832 Blouet was ordered to complete it as rapidly as possible, and in 1836 it was finished, after an expenditure of about ten millions of francs. The monument is 137 feet long, 68 feet broad, and 152 feet high. The middle arch has a span of 90 feet. The reliefs upon the side visible in our drawing represent on the right the departure of the army in 1792: the Angel of Glory summons the people; on the left is the triumph of Napoleon in 1810, by Cortot: Napoleon protected by the Angel of Glory is crowned by Victory. Upon the opposite side is the defence of the French people in 1814 and the Peace of 1815. In the upper part the figures appear in modem costume, and here are the Battle of Aboukir, the death of General Marceau, the Battle of Austerlitz, &c. The frieze contains historical reliefs, and in the attic are shields with the names of the yictories. In the walls are steps by which the summit of the arch is gained and a fine prospect commanded.
VII. Plate 53: Palatial and Monumental Architecture of France and Germany
Engraver: Ackermann & Gustav Feldweg
We must here mention two monuments of similar import, the Column of the Place Vendôme and the Column of July in Paris. In the middle of the Place Vendôme was erected in 1699 an equestrian statue of Louis XIV., modelled by Gerardon, which was destroyed upon the day of the execution of Louis XVL., who was forced to behold the outrage. When Napoleon seized the reins of government, he resolved to immortalize the battle of Austerlitz, and to erect a column after the model of Trajan's Column in Rome, and from a drawing of the architect Lepère. It was erected of stone, and surrounded by 274 bronze reliefs from Bergerel's designs, spirally arranged in 22 windings. The column is of the Tuscan order, 108 feet high, and with the substructure 124 feet. The shaft is 11 feet thick. Pl. 53, fig. 7a, shows the column as it now is, and fig. 7b, a view of its prototype, the Column of Trajan. The colossal statue of Napoleon was 10–11 feet high, and represented the emperor in antique warrior's costume, resting with the right hand upon a sword, and bearing in the left a globe with the victory (fig. 8). But it was removed in 1814. After the revolution of July it was resolved to replace the statue of Napoleon upon the column; but his modern costume was chosen (fig. 9) on the one hand because it had become world-renowned, and on the other because all the figures in relief were in modern costume. The metal of the column weighs 1,800,000 pounds, and it was built of captured cannon. The labor alone cost 1,200,000 francs. Upon the pedestal is the Latin inscription represented in fig. 7c, and on the upper part of the capital a French one, relating to the building of the column, begun under Denon, Lepère, and Gondoin on the 25th August, 1806, and completed on the 15th August, 1810.
Upon the site of the Bastille destroyed on the 14th July, 1789, it was proposed to erect a fountain, with an elephant 40 feet high, the plaster model of which still exists. But after the July revolution, it was determined to decorate the place with a column in remembrance of those who had fallen there; and Louis Philippe on the 28th July, 1831, laid the corner-stone, and on the 29th July, 1840, it was consecrated. Pl. 53, fig. 10a gives the view; fig. 10b, the inscription upon the pedestal; and fig. 11 a view of the Column of Antonine in Rome, which served as the model. The Column of July stands upon a vaulted foundation, through which passes the canal of St. Martin, and it has a double substructure, one round, with an inner gallery, and one square, over it, of granite and white marble, in which are the beginnings of the steps upon which the column is ascended. It is of the Corinthian order, and the pedestal is adorned with inscriptions, palms, laurel crowns, oak branches, the arms of the city of Paris, the Gallic cock and the lion, the zodiacal sign of July. Upon the shaft, divided into three parts, are recorded in gold letters the names of the victims of July. The statue of the Genius of Freedom with a torch and a broken chain in the hand is by Dumont. The column is entirely of bronze, 133 feet high, and the lower diameter is more than 11 feet.
Another monument of honor is the Valhalla near Ratisbon (pl. 55, fig. 1, view, fig. 2, section), which king Louis I. of Bavaria erected to the memory of distinguished Germans. It forms a Doric marble temple, and was founded on the 18th October, 1830, planned and executed by Leo v. Klenze, and dedicated on the 18th October, 1842. The monument stands upon a hill on a foundation 126 feet high. The temple is 70 feet high, 100 feet broad, and 300 feet long. In front is a double portico of eight columns; each side has seventeen columns, and the rear eight again, so that the temple is a peripteros. The gable-fields are decorated with reliefs by Ranch and Schwanthaler. The southern slope of the hill is made accessible by steps up seven terraces of Cyclopean work, one above the other. The exterior is finished with unusual splendor. The walls and roof are painted in several colors. The ceiling is pendent, being fastened to the roof, and ornamented with rich metal cassettes. The illumination is from above. The upper entablature is supported by caryatides standing upon a cornice supported by pilasters, which divides the walls into an upper and lower part. The paintings of the frieze are by Wagner. Between the entablature and the pendent ceiling are figures from the northern mythology. The hall is decorated with the marble busts of distinguished Germans, standing partly upon pedestals, partly upon consoles, and executed by German artists only. There is room for one hundred and forty busts; about ninety have as yet been placed. Victories by Ranch and candelabra (fig. 3 a and b) interrupt the monotony of the rows of busts. On the north side is a small hall with columns supporting the floor of an upper hall which opens into the interior of the building. Southward in the subterranean part is a kind of crypt, where are placed the busts of those who are to have a place in the Valhalla after their death.
Halls and Bazars
VII. Plate 58: Commercial Architecture
Market halls belong to the most sensible institutions of the ancients, revived in our day, and are no less useful to the public than to the traders. One of the finest is the Grain Hall in Paris. (Pl. 58, fig. 1, gives the half outer view; fig. 2, the half section; fig. 3, the ground plan of the lower; fig. 4, the ground plan of the upper story.) The hall was begun in 1762, and was finished in 1772. The President of the Board of Merchants, Viarmes, undertook the building after the designs of Comus de Mezieres. The ground plan is a complete circle, whose outer diameter is 68 metres, and the ground floor, which has 28 arcades, is excellently vaulted. A double winding staircase serves for communication. Originally the building consisted of these arcades only, but in 1782 the court was covered with a dome of framework, designed by Legrand and Molinos, and executed by Rubo. The diameter of this dome is 126 feet, and its height is 100 feet. In the year 1802 the dome was burnt, but in 1811 was restored, of the same dimensions, but of iron with a copper roofing. Upon the side of the hall is a column (fig. 1 A and A), which was erected by Catharine di Medici, and served her as an astronomical observatory. Now there is a remarkable sun-dial of Pingré's upon it. Pl. 51, fig. 8, gives the ground plan of the ground floor, and fig. 9 that of the chief story of the grain market at Corbeil near Paris, which contains store-rooms for corn and meal.
The Market of St. Germain in Paris (pl. 58, fig. 5, inner view; fig. 6, section; fig. 7, ground plan) consists of a rectangular building inclosing a court and containing 400 stalls. The length is 276 feet, the breadth 216 feet, and the depth of the part covered with building, 42 feet. The building was commenced on the 15th August, 1813, by Destournelles. In the centre of every side there are three arched passages 30 feet high. All the arcades are furnished with blinds, and under the roof there are openings for ventilation, the beams of the suspension roof resting on little pillars projecting above the side walls. In the middle of the court b is a fountain. A distance of 34 feet separates the large market from the meat market c. It is 220 feet long, 42 feet deep, and was planned in 1814 by Blondel. Under this are cellars, which are lighted by windows in the lower wall of the building. This hall has 20 divisions with about 150 stands, and in the middle a large vestibule.
The Magdalen Market in Paris (fig. 9, lateral section; fig. 10, general ground plan) was completed in 1836, and serves for the vendors of flowers and vegetables. Upon the sides are large and small hall-like stands for business, but in the middle only open stalls. All the ridges of the roof are of iron, and the covering of sheet-iron.
The Market at Pavia (fig. 8, half view; fig. 11, half ground plan) was built in 1837, and contains, upon the front side, a colonnade for the stands, but in the rear a number of sitting rooms for the hucksters, and over these chambers smaller ones in the attic.
The Market Hall in Florence (pl. 51, fig. 10, ground plan; fig. 11, view) was built in the sixteenth century by Bernardo Tasso. It consists of twenty Ionic columns, 2 feet 7 inches thick and 23 feet 3 inches high, and eight pillars. It rests upon four steps. The shaft of each column consists of one block of grey granite from Fiesole. The columns of the loggia have Corinthian capitals. Upon the corner pillars are niches for placards.
The Fish Hall at Marseilles (fig. 12, ground plan; and fig. 13, elevation) is, like those of Ghent and Bruges, only an imitation of the fish hall built at Florence, in the sixteenth century. It is a double hall, with a wall running lengthwise through the middle. The roof rests upon eighteen Ionic granite columns and two pilasters.
As an example of the hugeness of market halls in the East, we have represented in pl. 58, fig. 12, a part of the view, and fig. 13, a part of the ground plan of the Almeidan at Ispahan, in Persia. The whole building contains selling stalls, distributed through many stories. It surrounds a large court C C, to which is adjoined a spacious colonnade. Large entrances, A, B, D, E, F, G, lead into the inner stalls, and on the inside a lane passes before the stands, every building having four rows of stands, of which every two stand with their backs to each other.
VII. Plate 59: Various European Prisons
Engraver: J. Keller
In the construction of prisons, meaning those which are also work-houses, many systems are adopted, according to the manner in which the prisoners work, together or separately, and whether strict silence is to be observed, &c. The last-named system arose in America. This is not the place to speculate upon the characteristic advantages of these systems. Yet the American system greatly prevails. Generally, the prison-houses surround several courts, as the prison at Aix (pl. 57, fig. 18), to separate the sexes, and even the classes of prisoners from any intercourse. Pl. 59, fig. 15, shows the ground plan of the prison of Newgate, which is not a work-house, on which account the cells are larger, and no regard is had to a hall for labor. The jail at Ghent (fig. 16), recently built, and upon the cell system, forms an octagon, and all the entrances of the cells are in the form of radii from the church placed in the centre. In the prisons of Milan (fig. 17) and Amsterdam (fig. 18), the labor is in common, and only especial criminals are separated into single cells.
We shall give some details of the new prison at Halle, because it is often quoted as a model institution. Pl. 59, fig. 1, gives a perspective view of the whole institution, and fig. 2, the general ground plan. A is the chief building, of which fig. 3 shows the ground plan of the cellar story, fig. 4 that of the first story, fig. 5 of the second, which is like the third, and fig. 6 is the ground plan of the four stories, with the church. Fig. 7 is the front, and fig. 9 the side view of the main building; fig. 8 its lateral section, and fig. 10 the longitudinal section. Fig. 2, B, C, and D, are the prison-houses, connected by bridges a b with the church in the main building. E is the entrance building, F the bath and wash-house, whose ground plan is seen in fig. 13, and the side view in fig. 14. G is the lazaretto, whose ground plan is seen in fig. 11, and the side view in fig. 12. The whole establishment is surrounded by a wall, inclosing courts and gardens for recreation and labor in the open air.
As in the other buildings we have described we have omitted technical details, so we shall do with the bridges, of which we will describe a few of the most famous.
VII. Plate 60: The Architecture of Bridges
1. Italy. One of the most beautiful bridges is the covered bridge over the Ticino, near Pavia (pl. 60, fig. 17). It is 700 feet long, 70 feet broad, and 108 feet high, and has seven Gothic pointed arches, 66 feet wide and 60 feet high. The covering has several stories. The great mass of the building is of brick, the little columns which support in double rows upon each side the covered way for pedestrians are of colored, and the bases and capitals of white marble, of which also the balustrade and other architectonic parts are made. Over the arches are arabesques, with gilding upon blue ground.
The covered bridge over the Rialto in Venice (pl. 60, fig. 1, view; fig. 2, section) was begun in 1560 by Antonio Conte del Ponte, and finished in 1591 by Dyonis Boldo. It is a master-work. A single flat marble arch, 90 feet wide and 19 feet high, supports the street of the bridge, which is inclosed upon both sides by arcades of marble used as shops. The bridge ascends and descends by three marble steps, and hence its peculiar form.
The curved bridge (Ponte corvo) over the Melfa, near Aquino, was planned by Stefano del Piombino. The ground plan forms a sextant. Stefano's son and the Genoese Era Jocondo completed the work in 1505. It is 600 feet long, 42 feet broad, and consists of seven semicircular arches (fig. 16). The middle arch has 88 feet span, the last and smallest 70 feet. The pillars increase in thickness symmetrically from 10–12 feet, and stand upon a common foundation. The bridge is built in a simple and imposing style.
2. France. The bridge Notre Dame, over the Seine in Paris (fig. 10), was built by Fra Jocondo in 1507, after the stone bridge of 1412 had been destroyed in 1499. It is 380 feet long, 73 feet broad, and has six semicircular arches averaging 53 feet span. The pillars are 12 feet broad and have three-cornered heads.
The bridge Ste. Marie in Paris (fig. 8) was begun in 1613 by Christopher Ste. Marie, and completed in 1635. It is an imitation of the beautiful bridge of Augustus near Rimini, 335 feet long, 72 feet broad, and it has seven semicircular arches of 42–55 feet span.
The bridge of Neuilly over the Seine, near Paris (fig. 9), one of the most beautiful and imposing of bridges, was begun in 1768 by Perrot, and finished in 1774. It is 876 feet long, 45 feet broad, and consists of five large, depressed, basket arches, constructed from eleven centres, of 120 feet span, and 30 feet high. Each top surface of the arch ends in a flat arch, whose union with the basket arch of the bridge vault produces an oblique vault (cow's horn). At the key-stone the arch is 5 feet, and the oval-headed piers are only 13 feet broad.
The bridge of St. Maizence, over the Eure, built by Perronet in 1774–84, is 252 feet long and 39 feet broad. It has three very flat arches of 72 feet span (fig. 12) and 4 feet 6 inches thick at top. The piers are only 18 feet thick.
The bridge of Gignac, over the Herrault (pl. 60, fig. 7), was begun in 1777 by Garipuy, and finished in 1793. It is 558 feet long and 80 feet high, with three large arches, the middle of which has 150 feet span and is 50 feet high. The two other arches are semicircles of 77 feet diameter. The piers of the bridge are 24 feet broad.
The bridge of Tilsit or Bellecourt, over the Saone, near Lyons (fig. 18), was begun in 1789 by Varegua and Vimar, and was completed in 1810. It is 422 feet long, and has five basket-arches 61 feet in width and 20 feet high. The pillars project and rise to the railing, where they bear inscriptions. They are semicircular. The cornice exhibits consoles, and the bridge-way is horizontal.
3. England. The bridge over the Taff (fig. 15), in Glamorganshire, was built of brick in 1756. It consists of a single flat arch 132 feet wide and 33 feet high, the widest arch in England and the seventh in the world. Over each shank are three circular bridge eyes, which materially lighten the structure, and thus contribute to its stability.
The Strand, or Waterloo bridge, in London (fig. 11), one of the largest bridges in Europe, was begun by Kennie in 1814, and finished in 1817. It is 1200 feet long and 43 feet broad, and consists of nine basket-arches, 112\(\frac{1}{2}\) feet broad and 28 feet high. To diminish the pressure upon the pillars, all the arches are united by reversed vaults. The pillars are 18\(\frac{1}{2}\) feet thick, and the heads terminate in the pointed-arch style. Each one bears two columns, whose entablature lies in that of the railing of the bridge.
The bridge of Colebrookdale over the Severn (fig. 22) is the first great iron bridge, and was the work of the master-smiths John Wilkinson and Abraham Darley. It was cast in 1773 and erected in 1779. It consists of a flat arch 100\(\frac{1}{2}\) English feet broad and 38 feet high. The arch is formed of five arch ribs; and upon each lies, with the length of the bridge, rows of beams to support the road upon the bridge, which is laid upon iron plates 2\(\frac{1}{2}\) inches thick, strewn with gravel and sand. Diagonal buttresses and straight joints knit it firmly everywhere. The road upon the bridge is 22 feet broad and the iron works weigh 380 tons.
The most astonishing work of modern times is the tubular iron bridge over the Menai Straits in Wales. This structure will be found mentioned under Technology.
4. Germany. The bridge near Kösen over the Saale (pl. 60. fig. 13) is one of the oldest remaining German bridges, and was built in the 11th century. It is 288 feet long, and consists of eight arches, whose middle five are pointed arches, the rest semicircular. They have 24—25 feet span. The pillars are almost 12 feet thick, and have round heads. The ascent is rather steep.
The Bridge of Zwetau near Torgau (fig. 14) was built in 1730 by Augustus II. King of Poland, Elector of Saxony. It is 690 feet long, and has twelve arches in full semicircle, spanning 33–46 feet. The pillars reach to the cornice, and have alternately a three-cornered projection. The bridge is steep and uncertain of ascent.
5. Spain. The Bridge of Toledo (fig. 21) was built in the 13th century, and is simple and handsome. It is 520 feet long, and has nine semicircular arches of 32 feet span, and eight piers of 20 feet breadth, with semicircular heads which extend to the bridge-way, where they keep the railing firm. The bridge is horizontal.
6. Persia. The Bridge of Barbaruh at Ispahan over the Senderuth (fig. 3, the length; fig. 4, front view; fig. 5, section of the side) is named from its builder, and is of an unknown antiquity. It is 2250 feet long, 120 feet high, and 156 feet broad. The middle way, 60 feet broad, and the side ways are paved with marble, and the latter lead through arcades, to which the ascent is by stairs in the four towers of the bridge. These stairs also lead under the bridge, where a way leads along the length of the bridge through the pillars, as the substructure reaches to the surface of the water, which flows only through bridged canals. The bridge has 29 arches of 50 feet span, and the pillars are 25 feet thick.
7. China. The Chinese bridges have generally huge proportions, as, for instance, the Bridge of Loyang, which is 26,800 feet long, and that of Focheu, which is 22,000 feet long, and both are 60–70 feet wide. We have represented two specimens of Chinese bridges in figs. 19 and 20, one with pointed, the other with round arches. These two bridges prove that the usual simplicity of Chinese bridges is not owing to ignorance of the art of vaulting, which on the contrary the Chinese appear to possess in perfection.