PROLUSIONES ARCHITECTONICS; O l! , ESSAYS ON SUBJECTS CONNECTED WITH GRECIAN AND ROMAN ARCHITECTURE. BY WILLIAM WILKINS, A.M., R. A., F.R.S. FORMERLY A SENIOR FELLOW OF CAIUS COLLEGE, IN" THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE ; REGJUS PROFESSOR OF ARCHITECTURE IN THE ROYAL ACADEMY. 1 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2014 https://archive.org/details/prolusionesarchiOOwilk PROLUSIONES ARCHITECTONICS op, ESSAYS ON SUBJECTS CONNECTED WITH GRECIAN AND ROMAN ARCHITECTURE. BY WILLIAM W1LKINS, A.M., R.A., F.R.S. FORMERLY A SENIOR FELLOW OF CAIUS COLLEGE, IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE; REGIUS PROFESSOR OF ARCHITECTURE IN THE ROYAL ACADEMY. LONDON : JOHN WEALE, ARCHITECTURAL LIBRARY, 59, HIGH HOLBORN. 1837. PRINTKD BY A. J. VALPY. RED /.ION COl'RT, FLEET STREET. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE CHARLES, EARL GREY, KG. &c. &c. &c. My Lord, Among the great benefits conferred on the nation by the government over which your Lordship presided, not the least in importance is the stimulus given to the dormant state of the Fine Arts, by the construction of a Royal Academy in conjunction with a National Gallery ; the one to enshrine the precious remains of departed genius, and the other to encourage the exertions of the present race in seeking to obtain a like degree of immortality. The fulfilment of a promise which had been frequently made by former governments to the Royal Academicians, and as often deferred, was one of the early acts of a minister who well knew in how great a degree the cultivation of the Fine Arts contributed, by a thousand unseen and unfelt operations, to the prosperity of a nation. The readiness with which your Lordship adopted the suggestion of a favourable site for these objects, and the zeal subsequently displayed in the redemption of a pledge so much in conformity with your clear and comprehensive knowledge of the sources of true greatness, demand the admiration of an enlightened nation, and the sincere gratitude of all attached to the pursuits of the Arts. A most beneficial result is exemplified in the exertions and success of the IV DEDICATION. contributors to the public exhibition of genius and talent, whose works adorn the building reared with the view to cultivate and enlarge the dominion of Taste. In requesting your Lordship's permission to dedicate to you the following- Essays, I have been actuated by the desire of offering homage to the virtue which aims at the benefit of mankind, and the talent so qualified to attain that object. I am further desirous, by availing myself of an occasion, however inadequate the record, to pay a slight but sincere tribute of the gratitude with which I have the honour to subscribe myself Your Lordship's most obedient and devoted servant, WILLIAM WILKINS. Weymouth Street, June 22, 1837. / PROLUSIONES ARCHITECTONICS, &C. &C. THE ERECHTHEUM. From the concurrent testimony of ancient writers, it appears that there existed on the Acropolis of Athens an edifice of the highest antiquity, which derived its appellation from the sixth king, and was called the Erechtheum. This temple was constructed on a site hallowed by all the mytho- logical associations which connected this favoured city with its divine protectress. On this spot, according to tradition, the truth of which it would have been impiety to question, the preternatural demonstrations of power exhibited by Minerva and Neptune, in their contest for the tutelary guardianship of Attica, were indelibly implanted, and hence became objects of the greatest devotion. The spring of salt water which issued from the earth where struck by the trident of Neptune, and the sacred olive which took root in the rocky soil by the rival act of the goddess, were enshrined in a building constructed over them for their shelter and protection. Herodotus, in reciting his history before an Athenian audience, says, "Eot; iv kz^oicoki rccury 'Egsy^dqog tov yriyiv'zog Xeyopctvov iivai vqog, iv tco \ha.'ir\ »a) Odxao-trci 'In. (viii. 55.) This was in the third year of the 83rd Olym- piad. He proceeds to inform them, that on the occupation of the A 2 PROLUSIONES ARCHITECTONICS. citadel by the Persians, this temple, together with the other sacred edifices of the Acropolis, was burned ; meaning probably, that the roof and all the combustible portions of the building were then destroyed, although the walls must have been left standing. On the following day, some Athenian refugees, who accompanied the invaders, were permitted to perform their religious rites in the half-consumed temples ; and on this occasion it was discovered that the sacred olive not only had escaped destruction, but that it had sent forth new and vigorous shoots. A testimony so unequivocal was hailed by this devout people as a signal instance of divine interposition, and rendered the spot still more dear to them ; it was the inducement, when the absence of their in- vaders left them at liberty to repair the ravages of warfare, to rebuild the shrine thus violated ; a restitution, at variance with their general feeling of resentment and policy, which nourished the spirit of hatred to their invaders, by leaving the sacred edifices, which had suffered from the violence of the enemy, to remain unrepaired.* * Owing to the vague terms in which historians have described the destruction of buildings by fire, a general inference has been drawn, which particular instances show to be erroneous. It has been concluded, that such buildings were wholly destroyed. The error of such a conclusion is strongly exemplified in the temples of Agrigentum, which to this day afford a proof of the inefhcacy of fire to accomplish their overthrow. The Sicilian historian informs us, that some of these sacred edifices were burned, and some wholly undermined by the invaders : the distinction observed in the terms used to express the different kinds of violation inflicted upon them is worthy of remark, inasmuch as it implies that some more effective means than the easy application of fire was necessary to accomplish their destruction. If after a lapse of 2000 years, and after the desolation to which the city, in the absence of all means of defence, was subjected, these remains are still so considerable, and the condition of some of them at least so entire, in what light are we to regard them towering above the expiring embers of their timbers and other combustible materials ? It should seem, therefore, that by the expression of a temple being burned, the destruction of the roof and the lining of the walls is alone to be understood. Pausanias mentions a temple of Juno in the road from Phalerum to Athens, which was roofless and without doors. Mardonius is said to have burned this temple : here then is an instance of the extent to which injury was inflicted on a building by incendiarism. THE ERECHTHEUM. 3 The limited area of the Acropolis, however, no less than the locality of these sacred objects, left the Athenians no alternative; and the Erechtheum was rebuilt on the original site. The new edifice erected by the architect Philocles was therefore commenced soon after the Athenians had recovered from the effects of the Persian invasion, although its progress was probably protracted by the Peloponnesian war ; and in the archonship of Diocles, in the fourth year of the 92nd Olympiad, it wanted little more than the roof to be complete. The new building retained its original appellation, and so late as the time of Pausanias it was still called 'Egt%0eio)>. His description of it is summed up in the following brief passages : — Ka< hnrXovv yctg ig was the Hecatompedon ; for although the sacred and immovable objects within the Erechtheum admitted of no change in its site, the same objection did not apply to the Hecatompedon. But as the temples destroyed by the Persians were not repaired, it is evident that no second conflagration can have taken place in a building, supposing its ruins to have been suffered to remain, in which every thing combustible must already have been consumed. On more mature consideration, it appears to me that the difficulty occasioned by this passage of Xenophon may be wholly obviated, if we suppose the words b 'Adrivuig to be a corruption of the text, and that the historian did in fact allude to some other similar catastrophe. In cor- roboration of this supposition, it can be shown, that a very ancient temple of Minerva-Alea is stated by Pausanias to have been destroyed by fire about this time. The temple was at Tegea, and is called to hfou to k^alov by the Grecian topographer. This event must have taken place about the period mentioned by Xenophon ; for the new temple built by Scopas, to replace the ancient fabric, was completed in the third year of the 96th Olympiad, in the archonship of Diophantes. Here then we have the facts of the destruction of one temple by fire 406 years before Christ ; and the completion of another, built to replace I THE ERECHTHEUM. 5 one which had suffered from a similar calamity, 14 years afterwards; both of them dedicated to the same divinity, both so ancient as to be termed respectively u^ouog and TuXcuog, terms used indiscriminately when applied to a period of remote antiquity. The facts are severally related by two writers on Grecian affairs, neither of whom alludes to another occurrence of the kind. The inference to be drawn from these par- ticulars is obvious : in commemorating the catastrophe, both are de- scribing the same event ; and one of them, Xenophon, alludes to the ancient temple of Minerva at Tegea, and not to the Erechtheum, which had been so recently rebuilt. The passage, as it stands in Pausanias, is as follows : — TeysciTciig 'Adf]voi$ rrjg'A'Azag to Uqov to k^ycuov liror/](rev 'AXsog. "fcgovw $8 vtrregov KUTetrz&vouravTO oi TsysaToci tti Qzu vaov pzyav ti kou 6'iccg cl%iov \\k{ivo {a\v 7rvg rttykviciv, i7Civip,-/i&iv l%a,'iTOV nag ' AOrjvuloig ol^ovTog, vo-Tigu d\ 'Irei Trig tx-TYig aa,) Mivrizoo-TYig 'OXvp-TTicidog. (viii. 45.) It signifies little whether its commencement or completion took place in the year mentioned ; we have seen that the Erechtheum remained still unfinished 80 years after the conflagration of the original building. Pausanias affords no means of ascertaining the exact year in which the Tegean temple suffered from this accident. The two accounts will be reconciled by the substitution of the words \v Tsyzu or Ttjg 'Axiocg for iv ' AOymig, in the passage of Xenophon : and the difficulties it now offers will be obviated ; the unnecessary redundance resulting from the introduction of the words 'AOtivug, ' Adwuig, and ' AGfao-tv, in a short passage will disappear. The word 'AQwyw is necessary in one case, but superfluous in the other. The whole of the area of the Acropolis was regarded as one inclosure consecrated to Minerva, and, like many other Uga, contained temples and other sacred objects within its boundary. Strabo * describes the summit of the Acropolis as to Ufov T^g 'AOqvag, containing within its inclosure 6 agycuog vzug o ri\s Ylo7.ia,log, \v u o cltrfBztrTog Xu^vog kcli 6 Ylugdevvv ov Ixolrjirtv 'IxTlvog. i * ix. 3%. 6 PROLUSIONES ARCHITECTONICS. In the words of Aristides, it is described as a single monument, or mag- nificent dedication, to the presiding divinity. The ancient wall sur- rounding it was built by the Pelasgi, although the southern part was subsequently rebuilt by Cimon, and from him was called the Cimonium. This sacred inclosure could only be approached from the west ; but the front, like that of the temples within its circuit, and from its par- taking of the same sacred character, was towards the east. Here the rock was considered inaccessible ; and from this circumstance was left unguarded during the siege by the Persians, who surprised the citadel whilst the attention of the besieged was directed to the movements of the enemy, whose tents were pitched on the hill facing the western end, where was the only accessible road. Athens at the present period, and especially the Acropolis, has become by circumstances a point of considerable interest ; and the dis- coveries which may result from its possession by an enlightened people will probably be fraught with events illustrating questions of archaeology and topography : some allusion, therefore, to this subject may not be misplaced in an account of one of the most remarkable buildings of the Acropolis. The illustration of the topography of the ancient city of Athens is affected by a question which appears to depend upon religious con- siderations, rather than the accidental causes of locality ; but it is not those alone which have always led me to regard the eastern end of the rock of the Acropolis as its front. The extracts from ancient authors, especially Herodotus and Pausanias, tend to the same conclusion. In the description given by the former of the Acropolis, he informs us, that the Persians scaled the rock at some point in the front, or the end opposite the gates and the ascending road. His words are, 'Ipwgoo-fa m fgo TTjg uKgcxoXiog, oTitrOe 5s rw TrvXeuv xai T>jg oivolov, where, as I have already observed, the steepness of the rock appeared to render the presence of sentinels unnecessary. A very learned writer on the topography of / THE ERECHTHEUM. 7 Athens objects to the obvious meaning implied by the use of the term oTurk, although he translates it by the very same words in his discussion on the subjects sculptured in the two pediments of the Parthenon.* Pausanias confirms this explanation in a passage where no latitude is allowed to conjecture : he says, the Acropolis has only one approach, and the spot where the Persians surprised the citadel was where the rock was most steep, tvda, rjv puXitrra, avoropov, making use of the superlative degree, and thus indicating the east end, where the rock is more pre- cipitous than at any other point. Chandler has incidentally observed, that the " hill of the Acropolis is more abrupt and perpendicular, as well as narrower at the extremity, or end opposite to the Propylaea." t * " And that those of the opposite end (omade) represent," &c. — Leake's ' Topography of Athens,' p. 232. t There are, I think, several errors in this geographer's position of the objects described by Pausanias ; such, for instance, as the situation of Hadrianopolis. But whilst on the subject of the mistakes of others, I must not omit the acknowledgment of my own, in reference to the inscriptions on the arch of Hadrian, (' Atheniensia,' p. 49.) where, in my ignorance of Greek metre, I was not aware that they were Iambic verses. In this instance, however, I followed the authority of Dr. Chandler, a profound scholar, although educated at a period when Greek metre was almost wholly neglected. The interpretation, although erroneous, does not affect the merit of the question ; and I persist in the propriety of placing Hadrianopolis in that division of the ancient city, where the remains of many of the emperor's magnificent works are still to be seen. Nor can there be any question in placing the ancient city of Theseus on the site where the earliest recorded buildings of Athens were situated, and in the immediate neighbourhood of the only spring in the neighbourhood of the city. In this part of the city is the Olympieum, the splendid work of several preceding kings. To the completion of this temple it does not appear that Hadrian contributed any more than the statue : he performed the ceremony of dedication, and placed many works of art within the sacred inclosure. In accordance with this collocation, the aqueduct constructed by the emperor for the supply of the new city terminates within its boundaries. In the plan of Athens prefixed to Cramer's ' Ancient Greece,' which is almost wholly taken from that of Colonel Leake, the sites of Hadrianopolis and the city of Theseus are interchanged, and my earlier position of these two divisions of the city retained. This point is not to be settled by the arbitrary construction as to the meaning of an Iambic verse, but by the consideration of the localities and juxtaposition of buildings, whether we regard the style and date of their architecture, or their conformity with the notices of ancient writers. 8 PROLUSIONES ARCHITECTONICS. Some doubt seems to exist, whether the Cecropium, or sepulchre of Cecrops, was placed within or without the Erechtheum : it is alluded to in many passages of the inscription which admit of either construction, but the extracts from ancient writers are decisive as to its position without. A passage from Clemens Alexandrinus, quoted by Colonel Leake as an argument against its being a distinct and insulated building, appears to me merely to allude to the custom of giving to celebrated men the honours of sepulture within the citadel : — 'Ev ru r?j$ ' ' KQrivoLc, iv Aa,gitrZ, leaving a space at the end of the line for two or three in addition. This explanation clearly places the well of salt-water in the south prostasis of the building. The sacred olive was probably situated in the pronaos, where it would receive air and light through the windows, which appear to have been chit hr at ce, or latticed, for some such pur- pose. A remarkable singularity may be remarked in the construction of the stone work in the west or exterior wall of the pronaos. Im- mediately below one of the four columns, to which it serves as a podium, there is a block ten feet in length, its depth being that of two common courses, which seems intended for the lintel of a door- way, or some other kind of aperture : there are two mortice-holes sunk centrally about two feet asunder, for the purpose of fixing some metal-work. A similar lintel of the same depth, and eight feet in length, exists over the small door-way in the south wall, which affords the only communication between the pronaos of the Pandro- seum and the south prostasis : their unusual size and equal depths imply that a similar purpose was accomplished by both. But a more remarkable circumstance in the construction is the introduction of a single block 14 feet long, and in depth equal to three common / THE ICHNOGRAPHY OF THE ERECHTHEUM. 13 courses, at the south-west angle of the building, which constitutes a portion of the podium of the temple, and part of that of the south prostasis. The probable object effected by the introduction of these blocks in such situations will be discussed in the sequel : below that first described, the original aperture has been enlarged so as to form a modern door-way of greater width, which appears to have been de- termined by the joints in the original masonry, without reference to its central position below the lintel. The wall of this podium, as well as a portion of the south wall of the temple, is called in the inscription roi^og to irgog tov Ylavdgotreiov. Had the tomb of Cecrops been placed in the internal angle of the building, it could have been little more than a slab inserted in the pavement. It is much more probable, however, that Cecrops would have been interred in the ancient temple of the tutelary god- dess, if indeed the ancient temple was then in existence ; but this on various accounts can hardly be imagined. The Athenians, who delighted in tracing their ancestry to the most remote period, would have called the building the Cecropium, after their original leader. The Cecro- pium and the Erechtheum were however distinct buildings, the latter term meaning the Erechthean temple of Minerva, so called from its founder, the sixth king in descent from Cecrops. The state of the building at the period of the survey appears to have been this : all the masonry, as high as the epistylium inclusive, had been fixed, with the exception of five eight-feet lengths of this member, which had yet to be placed on the south wall. The operations were to be resumed by fixing the Eleusinian stone of the zophorus, which was intended to be carried all round the building, having already been set up in the west front, as well as three blocks of the same material forming the face of the tympanum of the pediment : this more advanced work implies the completion of the 14 PROLUSIONES ARCHITECTONICS. entablature, consisting of epistylium, zophorus, and corona ; all of which are comprised in the Greek term sTio-rara. The north portico was nearly completed, and the principal timbers of the roof had been fixed ; the purlins and smaller rafters were not yet placed, and were awaiting the completion of the simae in the west return of the portico ; five four-feet lengths, and one length of five feet, being the whole of their extent in this part of the building, measured from the return of the angular tpicranitis of the pediment. The south prostasis was completed, with the exception of some of the polishing and carving. There remained therefore to be fixed, the whole of the cornice, ex- cepting that over the west front, the whole of the simae, including those on the pediments, the inner courses of Pentelican marble at the back of the east and west pediments. All the timbers of the principal roof, and its tiling, together with that of the north portico, do not appear to be yet provided, nor the epicranitides of the eastern portico. ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE ERECHTHEUM. We are indebted to recent discoveries for the knowledge we possess of the method adopted by the Greeks in the construction of the roofs of their temples and buildings. It was first promulgated in the splendid architectural publication of the Society of Dilettanti, the result of their researches in Attica. Vitruvius leaves us without any information whatever of the various tiles, and their several uses and positions in the formation of a roof ; he merely tells us, that the simae, or the upper members of the cornice, were channeled at the back, so as to form gutters ; and that the rain-water running off the roofs into them found a passage through the lions' heads, sculptured on the outward faces of the simae, which were perforated for this purpose. Of the means adopted as precautions against the admission of rain into the interior of the building, he is altogether silent ; although there is no part of Grecian construction in which so much ingenuity has been shown, or where it was less conspicuous to the common observer. Above all, the mode of jointing the simae of the pediments is the most artificial, and cannot be explained without the assistance of drawings. The details published in the ' Unedited Antiquities of Attica,' the work to which I have alluded, are calculated to convey every degree of explanation required by the professional architect, although it is by models only that persons ignorant of architecture can be made to comprehend the extent of the ingenuity displayed. 16 PROLUSIONES ARCHITECTONICS. to effect the important object of excluding the wet from the timbers of a roof. In the plates which accompany this treatise, the roof of the Erech- theum has been restored in strict accordance with the principles observed in the roofs of the temples at Rhamnus, and nearly line for line with the plan of that of the greater temple. I shall proceed to show the exact conformity of the roof so restored, with the details mentioned in the Greek inscription. The roof of the Erechtheum is shown covered with tiles in nine rows, each having 36 along the Hanks, exclusive of the simae. Whether these tiles were originally marble, or formed of terra-cotta, will not affect the present inquiry ; nor is the principle of construction disturbed by the circumstance, that some of the simae were twice, and some three times the width of the common tiles, further than that the double tiles would require two rims behind, and the triple tiles three, with either one or two false joints wrought in the rear, and with a corresponding number of checks to stop the joint tiles, which extended in parallel lines from the ridge to the Imbrices, or gutters. I EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES. PLATE I. PLAN OF THE ERECHTHEUM. The building contains two temples under the same roof, separated by a transverse wall. "Ea-ri $\ zee) ot'zqfAa, 'EgzfcOziov aaXov^ivov . . . koCi htwXovv yug zirri to oi/Cfif^oc, zoCi vdojg \m\v 'Ivtiov OaXatrtriov h ) must have been made up of these 36 feet and the angular piece 3 feet 6 in length ; comprising the projection before the zophorus, which was nearly a foot. Hence the extent of the north and south walls of the Pandro- seum would be 38 feet 9 inches English, including half the division wall, which is precisely the length of each ; a fact, which corroborates the restoration of the numeral to which I have alluded. * This three-feet length was probably placed in the centre of the cornice, in order to preserve uniformity in the lengths on the right and left : the introduction of this shorter length was necessary, in order that the blocks of the cornice should break joint with the six-feet lengths of the Eleusinian stone, forming the zophorus immediately below. 28 PROLUSIONES ARCHITECTONICS. The pieces intended for the cornices of the two pediments remain to be noticed ; and here again the numeral fails us. The actual extent of the pediment-cornice in each front, measured from the extreme point of its cymatium, was 40 feet, but a small portion at each apex was worked upon the angular pieces of the yairov below, reducing the extent to 39 feet. They were in lengths of 4 feet 6 ; eight of such lengths, with a saddle piece of 3 feet, would be required for each pediment ; I have therefore assumed the numeral to have been originally An, which, with another subsequently mentioned, would give 16 lengths of 4 feet 6, but leave the saddle pieces unnoticed. The length of 3 feet for the saddle piece corresponds with that of the horizontal yueov immediately below, and would break joint with the sima at the vertex of the pediment, which we know to have been 4 feet. The cornice upon the pediments are stated to be one foot only in depth ; and in this situation they could not be more, the simae above them being the full depth of 18 inches, and therefore included the smaller mouldings ; neither could they be notched like the ysia-u of the flanks, the top bed being of necessity horizontal throughout. The marble blocks for the tympana of the pediments mentioned in the inscription were intended to back-up the slabs of grey lime- stone placed in front : they were six in number, and a foot in thick- ness. The six stones would be sufficient for both pediments, allowing for waste in working them, four of them being sawn diagonally. I shall have occasion to allude to the large blocks used in the construction of the wall below the columns in the description of the section of the building. It may be as well to observe, that the en- largement of the aperture, shown below one of the columns, for the purpose of a modern door-way, was effected by leaving the jamb on the left, and cutting away that on the right to the vertical joints of the adjoining stones. EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES. 29 PLATE IX. THE SOUTH FRONT OF THE ERECHTHEUM. There were 18 plinthi, forming the simae in this front, each 4 feet in length, exclusive of those at the angles, which were the re- turns of the angular epicranitides, the joints being covered by the acroteria. The depth of these simae was something more than 16 inches when finished, including in this dimension the small mouldings below them. The yeio-a on this account showed a depth of a foot only. The walls of the Pandroseum extended 39 feet 8 along this and the north fronts ; that towards the south was called roi^og Tgog votov and ngog votov avtiMv, the first when the south wall in general was in- tended to be understood, and the other when a portion of it only towards the west ; in order to distinguish it from the north wall of the Pandroseum, which is called roi^og Tgog rov Tloivdgoo-eiov. The wall beneath the columns of the west front was also called roiyog ngog rov Ylavdootruov. The simae of this front were in 18 four-feet lengths, which, with the two epicranitides of the pediments, give a length of 78 Greek feet, the accurate extent of the original roof. The plinthi in this front were about 16y John m-ilr drehitectural Ziirujj High Bbite/n, 163). sen /'/ 111 Mcwry Sculp. London. Fttblish/tt by John WcaJt. JrchUrcitircU AUvryy. Sigh JfaUtorn. idJ7 PI. IV Xoruian. TUblirhed £y ./v/ut JTeaU, .'ftv/titet ////r// Zibran: /ftoh //(>//><>/// MV PI V PI VIII 5 w PI. / PI. ZI I.Mulitit hMuAed h Joint II', u/, JrrJiitrctttral IHmri: J/wli //Mum MIT PL Xffl 3* 1 47 f.o/if/on.ftif'bahrd l>j ./t>ttri H r ra/r, .trr/uUrturn/ library: ffujh f/ofttoni. /tkV ATHENIAN INSCRIPTION. This remarkable document, relating to one of the most celebrated of the temples on the Acropolis at Athens, possesses no ordinary degree of interest, from the circumstances of its being not only sin- gular in its kind, but from its connexion with a building of which considerable portions are still in existence. It abounds in architectural terms ; some of which are obsolete, and others whose application to the several parts of the building can only be understood by those who possess an accurate and practical know- ledge of the construction of Grecian temples, and particularly of the roofs and superstructures ; a knowledge which has only reached us through the means of recent architectural publications. The framework of the roof of a Grecian temple, composed of perishable materials, would of course first suffer through accident and age, and would involve in its destruction that of the tiles it supported, and the pediments and cornices so intimately connected with it. After a lapse therefore of 2000 years, it can excite no surprise that fewer and inconsiderable traces of such parts of a building are to be found, than of others wherein durability depends upon a material less liable to decay. After such an interval it becomes a matter of astonishment that any portions of ancient buildings, the fall and dispersion of which are almost necessarily consequent upon the decay of timber, are still to be found. 40 PROLUSIONES ARCHITECTONICS. We are more especially indebted to the juxtaposition of the two temples at Rhamnus, for the preservation of portions of every part connected with the construction of their roofs : very considerable remains have interlapsed, and still occupy the space between the almost contiguous walls of the two buildings; and being thus im- mured, if the expression may be permitted, they have been preserved from decay and that destruction which more or less has been the fate of the fallen fragments of ancient edifices, when applicable to modern purposes without great difficulty of transport. Amongst these, considerable portions of the blocks forming the tiles, the eaves, and the cornices, have been discovered, and the mode of their application, to cover and protect the building, fully ascertained : they are so various as to leave nothing relating to the ancient mode of construction unexplained. Through such aid we are now in possession of the principles adopted by the Greeks in the construction of their roofs ; and whether tiles of burnt clay, or, as in the most perfect and finished examples, slabs of marble, in the manner said to have been introduced by Byzes of Naxos, were adopted, nothing is wanting to enable us to effect an accurate representation of a Grecian roof. In the Parthenon, and in the majority of Doric temples, there were no gutters along the flanks of the building ; although the larger temple at Rhamnus, and the temple in Antis at Eleusis, exhibit such a mode of construction. In temples of the Ionic order gutters occur in every instance along the flanks, in the manner described by Vitru- vius ; the sima, or mouldings which surmount the cornice, being hollowed at the back, so as to form channels for collecting and dis- charging the rain which fell upon the roof. In the manuscript copies of this author they are said to have been called ewio-rtd&s, an error in the transcribers, probably, for eiri/rTUTifos : in the following inscription a term of similar import has been applied, although, as the latter ATHENIAN INSCRIPTION. 41 surmount the cornices of the pediments, they are on this account called l#M#mfii&6{, sc. wxivdot. In the construction of the Doric entablature, the blocks, excepting those at the angles of the building, were all of equal length, arising from a necessity which will be immediately understood by the pro- fessional architect ; and where there were no simae, it was indispensable that the top bed of the ys7III EY2X API AAE2 ATPYA E©ENAIOAEIKEI2IEYIAPXITEKTON 4'I AOK AE2 AXAPN EY2TP AMMATEY2ETE A PX02K YA AOENAIEYI TAAEANETPAIANEPrATONEO H0 2K ATEA ABONEXONTAK ATATO2E *IiMATOAEMOHOEnirENEIEinENEX2EPrAIMENAKAIHEMIEPrAEniAIO KAEOI APXONTOIKEKPOIIIAOSn PYTANEY02E2IIPOTE2EniTE2BO A E2 HEINIKOANEXMAPA©ONIOXnPOT02ErPAMMATEY2EN TONEOTAAEKATEAABOMENHEMIEPTA EniTEITONIAITEinPOXTOKEKPOniO n A I N0O2A0ETO2MEKO2 TETPA 1III nOAA2nAAT02AinOAAinAX02 TPIHEMinOAIOI All MA2XAAIAIANMEK02TETPAI70AA I nAATOITPIIIOAAnAXOrrPION HEMinOAION EniKPANITIAASMEKOSTETPAnO n AAinAAToiTPinoAAxriAxos n TPIONHEMinOAION rONIAIANMEKOXHEIITAIIOAA nAATOITETPAnOAAIIAXOI TPIONHEMinOAION TOrrYAOIAIOOSAOETOIANTIMO I POXTAIIEniKPANITISINMEKO^EN AEKAnOIHYIAIIEKI2K02 KAIHIMANTAIA0ETO2 EniTEinP02TAIEITEinP02TOI KEKPOniOIEAE T( >2A10O2 T020PCXM AI02T02 EnrroNKOPONEnEPrAiA III I0AIANO0ENMEKOITPION KAIAEKAnOAONFIAATOinENTE FIOAON TA2K AAXAITA2EniTOI2EIlI 2TTAlOlIEX2EPrA2A2:0AI EAE AI0IN ATIANTEA02EX2EPrA2MENA HAXAMAI nAIN0OlTETPAnOAEIMEKO2 nAATOSAinOAEinAXOI Al TPIONHEMinOAIONAPYOMOI M AIX A A I A I A M E KOSTETP A i nosnAATosTPinoinAxoi TPIONHEMiriOAION ASTPArAAOOKTOnOAEl" I HETEPON H EMIEPrONTESAEI AIEPrASI A2 ton a noTEirro a i m ekoxtetp a n o mi AAnAATorrpinoAAnAxosnENTE nAAAlTAAEIAEKriEnOIEMENA ANEYKATATOMEX rONIAIAEniTENHPOXTAXINTEN n POX H EO M EKOXHEK n()A EXnAATOX II TETAPTOHEMinOAIOnAXOX n EN T EIT A A A IT A TOTTO NTO H FT EPO H E A EI A M EN EPrA XI AEXXEPrAXTOTOAEKYMATION APrONHOAONKAlHOAXTPArAAOX TOAEHETEPOAPrONKYMATIOTPEX nOAEIKAIHEMinOAIONTOAEAITPA TA AOAPTOinOAEXnENTE EniTONTOIXONTONnPOITOnANAPOSE UII MEKOSHEnTAnOAONKAIHEMinOAlO nA ATOITP1 ONnO AON K AIHEMinOAIO H EMIEPrONTESAEIAXEPTASI A2 MEKOXH EKnOAONnA AT02TPION nOAONKAinAAAITEOTAXOniENTE I nAAA2T()NKAITONTEAIKONTONnP02 TOnANAPOSEIO TOYTOAITPArAAOATMETOinOAES IIENTE AIETIAIOITONAnOTEXXTOAXMEKOX ni HEnTAnOAESnAATOITPIONnOAON KAIHEMinOAlOnAXOinOAIAIOI HOYTOIHEMIEPrOI HETEPOMEKOSnENTEnOAEnAATOS II TPIONnOAONKAIHEMinOAIOriAXOX nOAIAIOIHEMlEPTOI An FEIXAEniTOXAIETOXnAATOX nENTEHEMinOAIONMEKOSTETTA PONnOAONKAIHEMinOAIOnAXOI nOAl AlATENAEIANEPrAIIAN I EKnEnOI EMENON HETEPON HEMIEPrONTEI II AEIAXEPTAXIAX TOIN0YPOMATOIN 0YPAlAI0INAIMEKO2OKTOnOAON KAinAAASTEinAATomENTE IIII HEMinOAION TOYTONTAMENAAAEXIEnEnOI ETOEXTA iYr A A E E A EITOX A I0OX TOXMEAANAXENOENAI OXTO I HYn EPOYPOITO I nPOXEO P HEMlEPrON TOlBOMOITOITO0YEXOAI0OinEN TEAEIKOIMEK OXT ET PA nO A EX III HYXOIAYOINIlOAOlNKAinAAAXTEX i nAxoinoAiAioi HETEPOXTPinOX 52 PROLUSIONES ARCHITECTONICS. I shall now proceed to divide the inscription into sections, in a manner somewhat similar to that of Boeckh, and accompany it by a running comment. SECTION i. Yj-tthttcitcu tov vsov tov sv ttoXsi sv &> to ctgyctiov uyaXfAM ~Bgocrvv * * rig K.so)Tog sy^at^^ocTSvo'Sv. " The Epistatae of the temple in the Acropolis, in which is the ancient statue Brosun . . . es, of Cephisia ; Chariades, of Agryle ; Diodes, of Cephisia ; the architect Philocles, of Acharnas ; the secretary Etearchus, of Cydathenaeum ; have reported the works completed, and in progress, as they found them to be, in compliance with the decree of the people, proposed by Epigenes, during the archonship of Diocles ; the Cecropic tribe presiding in the council, to which Nicophanes of Marathon was first secretary." The programme recites that the Epistatae of the temple, in conjunc- tion with the architect and the secretary, have been directed by a decree of the people, to report upon the state of the building, and of the works in preparation for its completion. This is done very much in the manner of a modern report ; where an architect, in order to de- scribe the amount of the work done during a certain interval of time, would recite the works already fixed, and the state of advance- ment of the portions in preparation, to complete the work at the conclusion of that period. ATHENIAN INSCRIPTION. 53 According to the mode of building amongst the Greeks, the orna- mental parts of the several mouldings, or what we term enrichments, were frequently finished after the masonry was fixed ; so was the smoothing or polishing. The unfinished portions of the masonry are termed jj^/e^ya, the unenriched mouldings are said to be ar^ra ; thus the cymatium and astragal are said to be urpqrot and cLviv xararo^g : l^yoca-^iva are portions left in relief upon the surface, by sinking the intermediate spaces ; the circular discs, which it was intended should be sculptured and form rosettes, called zaXy^ai, are said to be IZegycca-fAzvai : those in the epistylia above the statues, described to be in this state, still remain so. 'Exeigyoio-fteva, are portions requiring to have their plane surfaces tooled previously to being rubbed down or polished ; and a^arafso-ra are parts requiring the final polish. SECTION II. Toy vrjov rcihi Ka,T(x.Xu(3ou.ev riftiegycc PII TLhivQovg ccdsTOvg (Arjzog rergcc Todctg <7r\cx,Tog diirodug xocyjog Tgi'/lfAlTTodlOVg wXctTog TQiKohot. nctyog rgiw " We have found these unfinished. " At the angle of the temple opposite the Cecropium, " VII. Simae not yet fixed, four feet in length, two feet in width, a foot and a half in thickness. " Axillary tile, four feet in length, three feet in width, a foot and a half in thickness." 54 PROLUSIONES ARCHITECTONICS. The plinthi are the blocks which form the sima in the flanks of the temple. Nothing is said in the inscription of the z^uc/Jhg and -Agupoi ; so called because they were frequently of pottery, although sometimes made of marble slabs. Pausanias, in recording the invention of Byzes, calls the tiles formed out of thin layers of marble by this epithet. The difference between the plinthi and the ceramides consisted, in the first being a part of the construction, always of the same material as the building, and supported by the solid masonry of the enta- blature ; whilst the latter were frequently of clay, and were supported by the timber-work of the roof. The kxIvOos poHrfcciXtotia, has been already explained. SECTION III. II JLmxgoiviTidccg y^xog Tir^aTo hccg TrXocrog TQMoh&g wayog I Twviaiav {Aqxog 'nrrccKohcc wXarog rsT^WTro^a, nayog ToyyvXog XiOog adsrog uvTipo gog ratg svixgciviTKriv [Aqxog (sv) (HexciTovg v-^og rgiwv yiyuncohiuv II KvTiUjOga) roig STtirTvXiotg [ArjKog Tir^ctTcohi 7rXa,Tog ttwti TOtXctO'TCt). " V. Simse belonging to the pediment, four feet in length, three feet in width, a foot and a half in thickness. " An angular sima, seven feet in length, four feet in width, a foot and a half in thickness. ATHENIAN INSCRIPTION. 55 " The rounded stone, in continuation of the simae, eleven feet in length, a foot and a half in height. " II. Pieces to complete the epistylia, four feet in length, five palms in thickness." The mouldings termed iTixgu/inhg were the simae of the pediments, similar in form to the plinthi, differing only in having the top bed wrought with a slight inclination, and nearly parallel to the under bed : the plinthi, on the contrary, were wedge-form in the section. The mode of jointing these tiles was peculiar. They derive their derivation from the word 'Er/^aiw, which, according to Pollux, (ii. c. 4.) means fastigium ; whence there can be no doubt of their position in the building, were other evidence wanting. The angular 'ETr^aving was seven feet long ; and, in order to be commensurate with the yoyyvXog x'rfog, was intended, when finished, to be placed at the other angle of the pediment: the length of 10 feet, as we now read it, was in all probability 11 feet, the word EN concluding the preceding line : there are many similar instances of such a division of the nouns of number. The cornice of the pedi- ment, as we shall see afterwards when we come to consider the yzicra. \%\ rovg ahrovg, was forty feet in length, measured on the top bed. The length of the WiK^vir^sg was 21 feet on each side : they were thus arranged ; two of the four-feet lengths, with the uvrlpogog, and two feet of the saddle-piece, completed the 21 feet on one side; whilst three four-feet lengths, with the remaining two feet of the saddle-piece, and the angular piece of seven feet, made together the same extent on the other side ; the whole extent, measured from tip to tip of each pediment, being 42 feet. Both Muller and Boeckh assign a very different meaning and position to the Wiz^vlnhg^ owing to a misconstruction of the explanation of the term given by Athenseus, who states it to mean to ydtrov sag tov 'Trz^ir^.'^ovrog Itkttv'k'iov, that is, 56 PROI.USIONES ARCHITECTONICS. the eaves extending the whole length of the epistylium ; where the latter word means the entablature ; for no latitude given to the term yutrov will admit of its position below the epistylium, properly so called, where the explanation of Boeckh and Muller would necessarily place it. The accuracy of a description purely architectural requires that the ertKg&v'mfos and the yiio-u, worked in separate blocks, should be described as distinct pieces ; and hence, in the inscription, the word yiitrov is limited to the plain corona, with its two cymatia. The term uvrlpocog means, either a part in continuation of that with which it is joined, or one of two parts constituting the same thing. In many instances the epistylium over the columns of a Grecian building was formed in two thicknesses ; in the Parthenon it is in three : one of two such pieces is the avrly^og to the other. In the Erechtheum, however, the epistylium was in blocks the whole of the required thickness ; except, as we now learn, in one part, where two four-feet lengths were required, each being one half only of the usual thickness. These were in the north wall, immediately above the door-way : they were not placed in position until the completion of the building : the omission was intended to afford access to the roof over the stoa, and give facilities to the means adopted for fixing the tiles, and other operations connected with the completion of the roof. The uvTipogoc, therefore, is not a portion, but a continuation. We have now gone through the inventory of the parts unfinished, and not yet placed : we now come to the recapitulation of those wanting to complete certain portions of the masonry, under different circumstances. The word xocTsXujBo^sv being now dropped, the several parts are mentioned in the nominative case. The allusion to the yoyyvhog xdcg ought to have followed, and not preceded the last para- graph, according to the precise order of succession of the parts. ATHENIAN INSCRIPTION. 57 SECTION IV. I KlOKgUVOV CtOiTOV [AsraTrov to i fAi)x,[og dtTovv] TrXarog rgituv yifAiwodiwv rrctyog P YiTKrTVXlOi aOeTOL (/jYlKOg OZTO kcci nocXatrr^g irayog hixoda. PI JLtkttvXicx, avoo ovrct, sdei eTrigycco-atrfloti ^nog oktotto hoc TrXccrog hvotv irodoiv xa.i net. Xcctrryjg nccyog hiTohcc " The capital of a pilaster, not placed between the windows within the building, two feet in length, a foot and a half in depth, a foot and a half in thickness. " V. Epistylia not placed, eight feet in length, two feet and a palm in width, two feet in thickness. " VI. Epistylia, already placed, require to be tooled, eight feet in length, two feet and a palm in width, two feet in thickness." The restoration of the words ^zog hmow is a suggestion of Boeckh. I adopt it as correct ; in fact, there is no room at the end of the second line of this section for more letters than the six constituting this word. The dimensions accord with the blocks forming this part of the window-jamb. This, and the two four-feet lengths of the inner epistylia, are the only parts of the interior mentioned in the in- scription. if 58 PROLUSIONES ARCHITECTONICS. SECTION V. Toy de Xoitov spyov a.ita.vTog zyKVAku ctpyzi o JLXsv(rivicx.%og III Xi0og irpog o to, Zwu, kcci ztz@ti ZTl TC/JV ZKHrTUTUV TOVTUV Ttvv xiovav raiv sti tov toi^ov tov TPog tov Uavdpotreiov " The Eleusinian stone, to which the sculpture is affixed, overtops the rest of the work all around, and is put up in three pieces over the entablature of those columns which stand upon the wall next the Pandroseum," (or is placed over the three epistata, constituting the entablature.) The German commentators are much at a loss to understand this passage, which to me seems perfectly clear and intelligible. It may admit of some variety of opinion, as to whether the numeral III was applied to three of the five blocks, of which the western tympanum of Eleusinian lime-stone consisted, or whether to the three members which constitute the entablature of the west front. The zophorus of the temple, as well as the east and west tympana, were in two thicknesses : the outer slabs were of the grey lime-stone of Eleusis. They still retain the holes for the cramps, by which some ornamental sculpture was attached to them. It has been thought that the numeral alludes to three of the statues placed in the tympanum ; probably those of Pandrosus, Herse, and Aglaurus ; but it must be observed, that in every other instance the numeral in the margin is applied to the number of the blocks or pieces immediately under discussion. The difficulty lies in the explanation of the term iTrta-rocrav tovt&jv, ATHENIAN INSCRIPTION. 59 with which words Boeckh supposes the sentence to end, contending that the epistatae, or curators of the works, are here alluded to. In this case he admits that the words xeip&vuv xiovuv, which follow this passage, must be considered redundant. But these words are the commencement of a new paragraph, and have besides the numeral IIII prefixed. The term ixurruToc is, however, synonymous with the l^M^ura. of Pausanias, which alludes to the whole of the superstructure above the columns of a portico : the LXX. use the word gsn^ara in the same signification. M. Boeckh's objection arises from the authority afforded by the Sigaean inscriptions, the Itio-tktov of the one being supposed synonymous with vtox^t^iov in the other ; both therefore he thinks apply to the saucer or base of the consecrated vase. The iTta-TUTd, however, of the inscription, in contradistinction to the sTia-Tv'AtM, allude to the three members of the entablature. The base or saucer of a consecrated vase being termed vtoo-toitov, as we find it in a very ancient Athenian inscription given by Chandler, (Inscrip. Antiq. pp. xviii. 48. see also Atheniensia, p. ^J07.) serves to corro- borate the meaning here given to a word which differs only in the prefix of g«n for vto. Boeckh observes of the word Wkttcltov, " Et Atticis quidem, ut in hujusmodi rebus, aliud alibi vocabulum frequen- tius auditur ; videtur certe usitatius fuisse WIo-tutov, InotrTOLTov, i-rio-rung, vToa-TUTfig .... Sed Aristophanes (Av. 436.) rem conficit, licet ubi quid sit o ina-rccT^g sive to Wio-toctov dubitetur. Tria enim scholiastae proponunt .... Trabem vel asserem ad caminum, unde ex clavis vasa culinaria suspendantur, quod Brunckio probabile videtur." Brunck says, " Non minus tamen probabilis est ilia juxta quam \iridsv syxvxXat irX'/jv toiv ev t'/i TPOtrTOt \v (p^an, mentioned by Pausanias, as somewhere within this building, issued-forth ; here. The word ir^ovTotJuM would be more applicable than tb^o-to^iov, inasmuch as the wall does not encircle the well, but is built around three sides of it. The orthostatae are the deep lower courses of the walls ; in the bottom of which is worked the upper torus of the base-moulding. This course in the south front is nearly 4 feet 6 inches in height ; the blocks of which, with the exception of those belonging to the prostasis, were unpolished. (Vitruv. ii. 8.) The word uggufidaiTog, sometimes written without the reduplication of the £, is applied to the fluting, not only of the columns, but of the upper torus of the bases, and the continued base-moulding surrounding the whole building upon the upper step. In some instances, the lower torus of this moulding is reeded, that is, it presents a series of convex, instead of concave surfaces : the term is much more applicable to this variety of the torus. The *g»jjT/s consists of three steps, which continue throughout the whole of the building. (54 PROLUSIONES ARCHITECTONICS. SECTION VIII. Tov Toiyog tov ZTtrog 0iK0ircx,%£a- (tuTog, has been obliterated. Alluding to some parts without the wall, they must belong to the north wall, there being no other situation for them, not already or subsequently mentioned. The distance from the pilaster of the stoa, to that terminating the north wall of the building, is 41 feet 6 inches ; but the mouldings stop short of the pilaster, extending from the stoa towards the wall supporting the higher ground at the east end for a distance of about 36 feet ; whence I conjecture the numeral to have been originally mill. The next pieces are said to be in the prostasis next the door-way : the eastern i 66 PROLUSIONES ARCHITECTONICS. portico being implied as that facing the north, is always mentioned by the distinctive term stoa. They were on the right and left of the door-way ; and for this purpose six four-feet lengths would be required. It has been thought that the door-way alluded to was that in the stoa, although there is no authority whatever for the supposition. The Qvgmpa. of the eastern portico would be little less important than the other. The inscription describes the situation of those previously men- tioned as near some object, which Chandler imagined to be designated by the words TOAUAOMATOZ. It is however very obvious, although one of the letters is indistinct, that there are four between the initial to and the word pa.Tog. I originally thought that we ought to read TwyuXpccrog, although aware that it involved a Doric, rather than an Attic ellipsis : the word is probably ayXipaTog in a contracted form for ctyxXipazog, in the same manner that ayvXog is written for oc.yx.vkog. According to Morell, ayzXt^oc means " locus in nave ad quern incli- natur gubernator;" derived from xXipa,, declivitas, or ayax/iw, inclino. It alludes to the wall separating the higher and the lower level, which commenced not far from the east end, nearly in a line with the wall of the eastern portico, and was built reclining so as to resist the pressure against it. SECTION IX. Tov (BtufAov tov ®vriyj>v a&iTov Trjg &Togo(piag (r(p}]Ki(rzovg xou ifAocvTag ccflsTOvg. 7?7 KgOO'TOXrit T7j TgOg TO) ATHENIAN INSCRIPTION. 67 tov; XiQovg rovg ogotyiaiovg rovg IIII 01> rtj» [tev Xnav tgyucriav egycccrTO tov zvpctTiov ugyoi wodeg qffav s| zca riftiTohov curTgwyuhov ctgyoi TTodsg oktoj. Ill 'Kts^oiv xvpMTiov s| irohig a^yoi atTTgccyciXou oktm nohzg I Ers^ov qfuegyov rrjg Xsiag egyuo~tcig " Of I. other a foot and a half of the cymatium is not sculptured, and four feet of the astragal. " The plain work of another was finished ; but six feet and a half of the cymatium are left rough, and eight feet of the astragal. " Of III. others, six feet of the cymatium are left rough, and eight feet of the astragal. " I. is half-finished as to the plain work." The ysltra, herein mentioned are more or less advanced towards completion. In the third paragraph Chandler, through oversight, makes the numeral I instead of III, in which he has been followed by Miiller. This latter inserts 7ov h after agyoi, but it is not so in the marble. ATHENIAN INSCRIPTION. 75 SECTION XIV. IIII Tojv ccto T7;g CTOCcg f/y/jzog riT^a-no hoc T'Xarog 7gi7rooct vrc&y/og ffsvrs irctXao-TU, Xaa. szTSiroujfAsm CiVSV XC&TU,T0[/,7}$ II TwiUlCC S5H T'/JV KgOtrTCCO-lV T'/jV n^og \u fcqzog zzttoos -rXocTog TtVTZ KCiXcitrTa, Tovroov rou tTSgov yi Xaa, fAtv sgyu act, s^egyutrro to zvpuriov agyov oXov zat o ct mvTi. " IV. upon the wall next the Pandroseum, seven feet and a half in length, three feet and a half in width ; half- worked as to the plain work. " I. six feet in length, three feet and a palm in width, five palms in thickness ; the end one next the Pandroseum ; five feet of the astragal of this is unsculptured." The yzio-oL here mentioned are upon that part of the north wall which incloses the Pandroseum, the extent of which is 39 feet 8 inches : the numeral is obliterated ; but supposing it to have been IV, their united length, together with the end one, which is said immediately ATHENIAN INSCRIPTION. 77 afterwards to be six feet, will give an extent of thirty-six feet : to these must be added the return of the yomouov of the west front, or three feet six, (those of the other front being stated to be of this width,) making altogether 39 feet 6. It has already been shown, that there were III. lengths of 8 feet and II. of four feet at the other end, which, with the return of the yaviuw of the east front, gives a length of 35 feet 6 : hence the whole length of the cornice, on the north side, is shown to have been 75 feet, its actual extent. SECTION xvi. Ill AieTiocioi tuv ctTO Trig (TToag [AqKog \iCTdLirohzg -xXa-Tog Tgiuv Toduv xui riftiTodiov irayog ttooikioi ovtoi qfciegyoi II 'EiTegco (triKog tsvtocto^s vrXoiTog Tgiuv ftodajv xcci rjfUTodiov KCtyjag irohicLioi riftiegyoi * Teura, st; Tovg uUTOvg TrXetTog Tzvre rifAiTohuv f^rjaog tbttoc gcav TTodav xcu rifjuxodiov vccyog irohiaua. Triv Xstccv egycc Trig Xnag t zgya,(ritt.g " VI. stones for the tympana of the pediments, removed from the stoa, seven feet long, three feet and a half wide, a foot in thickness; these are half-worked. * Wobiaioi and f/pepyoi are here written for the dual iroiiaiu and ri/itepyw. 78 PROLUSIONES ARCHITECTONICS. " II. others, five feet long, three feet and a half wide, a foot in thickness, half-worked. " [XV.] Geisa upon the pediments two feet and a half wide, four feet and a half long, a foot in thickness ; the plain work finished. " Another half-worked as to the plain work." The fastigium of the stoa, as I have already observed, was re- maining at a late period : it consisted of three blocks of marble, two feet in thickness ; the centre piece three feet seven inches in depth, being seven feet in length ; the other two were ten feet each. The six stones herein mentioned were introduced in the tympana of the east and west fronts, being of the same size and thickness as the blocks of Eleusinian stone which they backed-up, in the usual manner, when the thickness of the walls was in two blocks. a 3 7 7 7 7 The three blocks a, b, c, sawn diagonally, will form a pediment 35 feet in length, allowing for waste in sawing. The two pieces of five feet could therefore only be intended for that portion of a pediment in the rear of the stoa, where it abutted against the zophorus of the western front, as shown in Plate IX. at p. It was probably the original intention to make the tympa- num of the stoa like the others, in two thicknesses,' the outer one of Eleusinian stone: if so, it was abandoned, and the tympanum was ul- timately formed of blocks of Pentelican marble, two feet in thickness ; and hence the expression uno r?ig a-Toag, removed from the stoa. The yii) veut dire en Grec, sommet, faite, faitage, fastigium : Kopvtyav oiraiov, fastigiare foramen, signifie par consequent, pratiquer une ouverture dans la faitage. — Whether in our construction of the passage we have given the true sense of the word dnalov or not, is nothing to the argument : Kopvfoetv oValov must always be understood to mean an undertaking of some extent and difficulty. If oTraHov means the whole of the aperture of the central division of the cella, or even any portion of that interval, the operation performed is expressed by a word which signifies the construction of a pediment, or a roof of a pedimental shape. To mention it at all, proves that the work was of some magnitude ; whereas that of leaving or constructing an opening is rather a work of omission, certainly one of no expense or difficulty, and little worthy of being recorded. + Architects call the lacunaria coffers, derived it is supposed from the area of Vitruvius. This is an error : the area of the Roman architect were the gutters. (Vitr. vi. 4.) 92 PROLUSIONES ARCHITECTONICS. As an additional proof of an opening in the roofs of temples, M. de Quincy relates a dramatic representation, in allusion to the Eleusinian mysteries, described by Lucian in the Life of the Pseudo- prophet Alexander, which took place in a temple dedicated to Glycon. The temple being arranged in the manner of a theatre,* Alexander, who represents Endymion, lies down upon the stage, when a certain Rutillia, personating Luna, descends from the ceiling, as if from the heavens. t But why in the dramatic representation thus described, it follows that the temple must be hypaethral, is not more obvious, than that the same exposure to the sky is necessary in similar re- presentations upon the French stage. In support of his opinion, that the roofs of temples were vaulted, our author quotes the description, by Pausanias, of the temple of Apollo-Epicurius at Phigalia, with the construction of which we are become well acquainted from the excavations made within and around it, which have enriched our national collection with some interesting specimens of Grecian sculpture. Pausanias informs us, that the roof, as well as the temple, was of marble,^ a fact which has been confirmed by the discovery of some of the marble tiles. This passage is interpreted to signify a vaulted roof, constructed with stone, in opposition to the manifest meaning of the Greek topographer. A similar interpretation is given to another passage of the same author, relating to the temple of Mercury at Megalopolis,§ of which nothing more remained, in the time of Pausanias, than the ^eXwjj h!0ov, or stone threshold of the door-way. Until we can be convinced * "HS?j yap 6 vews eyt/yepTO, Kal tj eKr)vr) itapeoKevaro. — Lucian Pseudoman. 19. f Karjjet he kit abrov Ik rijs 6po(f>rjs, w$ e£ ovpavov, avrl ri/s 2eX/;vijs, 'PovriWia ns. — lb. X Aidov (cat avTos bpofos. viii. 41. On this passage, Facius observes, 'Forte scribendum sit Xtdov Kal avros Kal 6 opofos. § Kat oiihev iXeiirero on fJ.rj y^eXiliyr} \ldov. viii. 30. ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE ROOFS OF TEMPLES. 93 that the vaulted roof of a temple can remain without its supporting walls, we must be permitted to give the word £gX«wj, and its synonym £8X«»}ff, a much more limited signification than is here claimed for it. Having shown that in the construction of the generality of temples, no provision was made or contemplated for the admission of light otherwise than by the door-way, it remains that some observations should be made on the means by which the objects within the cella were rendered discernible. The illumination of the mystic temple of Ceres at Eleusis by means of artificial light has already been noticed : such a mode seems to have suited the religious notions of the Greeks ; and, as far as we are enabled to ascertain, was that to which they had recourse, not of necessity, but by design. The golden lamp of Callimachus, which is said by Pausanias* to have burned perpetually before the statue of the goddess in the temple of Minerva-Polias at Athens, is decisive as to the mode in which the interior of temples in Greece was lighted. Both Thucydidest and Pausanias % describe the accident that befel the ancient temple of Juno near Mycenae, which was de- stroyed by means of a lamp placed by the priestess near some of the interior decorations. It is almost unnecessary to allude to the temples of Egypt, which were invariably covered with a flat roof : the porticos of approach were often courts, surrounded in most instances by a peristyle of columns, like the atrium of a Roman mansion. Pausanias informs us, that a fire was kept continually burning before the ancient statue of Pan, placed in his temple at Acacesium in Arcadia. § The same custom was observed in the temple of Ceres * Pausan. i. 26. Strabo, ix. 396. I ii. 17. t iv. 133. § viii. 36. 94 PROLUSIONES ARCHITECTONICS. and Proserpine at Mantinea. Near the Prytaneum at Elis there was likewise a small temple, in which a fire was constantly kept* In the forum of Pharre there was an oracular building, on the altar of which brazen lamps were fixed : those who came to consult the oracle first burnt frankincense, and, filling the lamps with oil, lighted them ; then placing an offering on the altar, they consulted the statue.f Hence it appears that artificial light was adopted in the religious ceremonies of the Greeks, and the custom was derived from a very remote antiquity. Plutarch mentions the perpetual lamp, of great celebrity, suspended in the temple of Jupiter- Ammon. % Alexander brought from Thebes, from the temple of Apollo, the palm-tree, from the branches of which lamps were suspended. The ten lamps in the temple of Solomon, placed upon tables or altars on the right and left of the cella, are decisive evidence of this early custom. § Pliny alludes to the use of lamps suspended in the temples of Italy. || * Pausan. v. 15. vii. 22. t A scene in iEschylus introduces us into the presence of Minerva, and the Furies assembled before the statue of the goddess within her temple at Athens. Minerva dismisses the Furies with an address, which is thus rendered by Potter : I like these votive measures ; and will send The bright flames of these splendour-shedding torches, With those that guard my hallow'd image here, Attendant on you to the dark abodes Beneath the earth. Hence it appears that the interior of the temple was lighted by means of torches. I De Orac. Defect, i. 614. ^ Kat eTroirjae ras \v%vlas ras ^pvaas beKa, (cat eOr)Kev iv tw vau. Paral. II. c. iv. 7. || " Placuere et lychnuchi pensiles in delubro." xxxiv. 5. CCPIDINES II CUM SUIS LYCHNTCHIS ET LUCERN. Gruter. InSCr. " Vidi Cupidinem argenteum cum lampade." — Cic. in Verr. ii. ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE ROOFS OF TEMPLES. 95 It has been objected to the use of lamps, the inefficiency of the light in discriminating the ornaments of the interior ; but this ob- jection would be equally applicable to the temples and tombs of Egypt, where internal decoration has been carried to a great extent : the paintings of most brilliant colouring, with which the walls and sculptures are entirely covered, could only have been seen by the introduction of artificial light. We have a further proof of the prevalence of this custom, in the existence of an office in perfect conformity with its observance. The care of the lamps devolved upon a minister of the temple, who also exercised functions which might be thought of higher pretensions. Chandler found the following inscription in the Choragic monument of Thrasyllus, which is now converted into a Greek chapel, and dedicated to the Panagia Speliotissa, or our Lady of the Grotto. XONIA KAI TO AETHMA Y IIEP TA2 KlfKAIAAI KAI THN APOAEITHN TH ©En EK TON IAIftN ANE0HKEN E HI2KEYA2A2A KAI AYTHN THN ©EON KAI TA I1EPI AYTHN OY2A KAI AYXNAITTP1A AY TH1 KAI ONEIPOKPITI2 From the foregoing authorities, it is evident that the custom of lighting the interior of temples by artificial means, was of ancient Horace alludes to the neglected state of the temples and statues, the latter of which were suffered to remain covered with smoke ; from what cause is sufficiently obvious. Delicta majorum immeritus lues, Romane, donee templa refeceris, Mdesqne labentes deorum, et Foeda nigro simulacra fumo. — Od. iii. 6. * Inscrip. Antiq. Pars ii. 55. xxix. 96 PROLUSIONES ARCHITECTONIC JE. origin and of general observance. The notices of this custom by early writers are certainly of rare occurrence ; but, on the other hand, there are none of a contrary tendency, excepting the one of Vitruvius, previously cited, which is applicable only to decastyle temples constructed with double peristyles. P. S. In page 83, the foregoing Essay is said to have appeared in the ' Unedited Anti- quities of Attica,' instead of the ' Ionian Antiquities,' vol. ii. second edition. At the moment these pages are undergoing revision, I have received a work which may be considered as a very pretty epitome of that of Stuart and Revett. In this the subject alluded to in p. 89 has been shortly discussed ; the plates " are in accordance with the hypo- thesis which classes the Parthenon among hypaethral temples." The author comes to this conclusion by arraying the names of Colonel Leake and Mr. Cockerell, to whom the first, as he observes, " refers as an ultimate authority in cases of doubt," and Mr. Kinnard, the editor of a new edition of ' Stuart's Athens.' With all my admiration for the talents and acquirements of those gentlemen, I must be permitted to remark that their conjoint opinion is not always infallible. Until a recent period, they both persisted in the erroneous assertion, that the principal entrance of Pausanias (es tovtov kciovaiv) was in the western front, and that the subject represented in the pediment was the birth of Minerva, and not the contest between the tutelary goddess of Athens and Neptune. Mr. CockerelPs recantation is given in his description of the Elgin collection of marbles in the British Museum. Colonel Leake now adopts this more correct opinion. Colonel Leake, with a similar reliance on the judgment of his colleague, calls a very unimportant building, near the entrance to the Propylaea, the temple of Victory. Recent discoveries have brought to light the remains of a building, much more worthy the appellation of a temple, in the immediate neighbourhood. He now abandons his original opinion, and leaves the little building to be, what I always considered it — a tomb, similar in design and extent to the numbers which are found on the shores of Asia-Minor. I much question whether the site of the temple of Victory has as yet been discovered. As to the authority of the author of the new edition of Stuart, I have only to give his own words for supposing that Vitruvius instances the Parthenon as an hypaethral temple. He objects to a very simple emendation of the text of the Roman architect, asserting that " In several of the MSS. the word Jovis is found with, and distinct from, octastylos, by the intervention of three words." (Vol. ii. p. 30.) The value of such authority will be ap- preciated, when I venture to affirm, that in no one of the MSS. known to us does the word Jovis exist, otherwise than as it is latent in the last los of the word octastylos, and in the word in or et which follows it. THE TEMPLE AT JERUSALEM THE TYPE OF GRECIAN ARCHITECTURE. The history of the Jewish nation offers to the consideration of the philosopher and the historian many peculiar circumstances, no where else exemplified in any one branch of the great family of mankind, originating from one common stem. Although, as from the sources of some great river, whose stream is augmented by tributary waters, a portion of the primary element is carried through distinct and distant nations, the descendants of those races, who separated on the dispersion of mankind, preserve some points of resemblance in the forms of their civil and religious observances, which an analysis will trace to the same common origin ; yet in all the characteristics which distinguish the Israelites from other nations, the difference is wide. The most remarkable of the distinctions which divide the Jewish people from the rest of the world, is the immutability of their laws. The code bequeathed to them by their great lawgiver contains, as a modern writer has observed, " the only complete body of law which was ever given to a people at one time — that it is the only entire body of law which has come down to our days — that it is the only body of ancient law which still governs an existing people — that the nation which it respects being scattered over the face of the whole earth, it is the only body of law that is equally observed in the four quarters of the globe — and, finally, that all the other codes of law, of which N 98 PROLUSIONES ARCHITECTONICS. history has preserved any recollection, were given to communities who already had written statutes, but who wished to change their form or modify their application ; whereas, in this case, we behold a new society under the hands of a legislator who proceeds to lay its very foundations." By far the most interesting of the considerations connected with the history of this singular people, are those connected with Christianity. " In opposition to their own wishes," says the same learned writer, " they laid the foundation of a religion, which has not only super- seded their peculiar rites, but is rapidly advancing to that universal acceptation, which they were wont to anticipate in favour of their own ancient law." The most brilliant era in the history of this nation is that which immediately followed the accession of Solomon, the great glory of whose reign is identified with the erection of the temple. Although this great undertaking was mainly subservient to spiritual purposes, the advantages arising from its construction were widely spread, and exercised an almost boundless influence over other important objects. It was in the reign of this prince, and a consequence arising from this act of piety, that the Hebrews first became a commercial people It is proved, on the authority of the sacred writings, that in pursuing this vast undertaking, the monarch was under the necessity of em- ploying foreign artists, and of procuring one of the most essential materials for building from a distant source. In return for the works of metal, and of every thing connected with the sculptor's art, the natural productions of Palestine were exchanged, with those mutual advantages which form the basis of international commerce. The subsistence of the multitudes employed in this vast work called forth the energies and resources of agriculture. These circumstances of unremitting industry are intimately con- nected with the history of art ; and occurring at a period of history when TEMPLE AT JERUSALEM THE TYPE OF GRECIAN ARCHITECTURE. 99 tradition was exchanged for authentic documents, it follows that additional interest is excited in the mind of the archaeologist and the historian. The chief object of the present dissertation is to show the in- fluence produced on the arts by the commencement and accomplish- ment of this great enterprise, and the example it afforded to the architects of the ages immediately following, as yet unskilled in architecture, and wanting some type of great authority for their guidance. The earliest temples in Greece were built in the most simple of the forms enumerated by later writers. The great dramatist describes his sacred edifice, not in conformity with a more decorated kind, which had been introduced as much as seven centuries before our era, but with regard to the chronology of the events he represents. Thus the temple of Diana, in the ' Iphigenia in Tauris,' is described to be of this simple kind, because the plot of his drama was laid at a very remote period, and no circumstance prevented him from repre- senting an imaginary building as one of a primitive form. In the ' Ion,' however, although the fable of the drama may be referred to a still more early age, it was necessary to make the description of the temple at Delphi accord with the then existing edifice, which was well known to the audiences of his age. The temple has a portico, cella, and adytum ; the pediments are adorned with sculp- ture,* which the watchful care of Ion preserves free from the pol- lution of the winged tribes. The labours of Hercules are represented probably on the metopae. The battle of the Giants was also sculp- tured probably on the walls of the peribolus. Armour was suspended on the epistylia, in the same manner as the golden shields of the Parthenon. * Amongst the embellishments of the pediments were the statues of Apollo, Diana, and Latona, and the Muses led by Helios and Bacchus. — Paus. Phoc. xix. 100 PROLUSIONES ARCHITECTONICS. The form of temple adopted at the earliest period of temple- building in Greece was that termed by Vitruvius in Antis, that is to say, a building having a mog or cella, with a pronaos formed by the interposition of two columns between the extended walls of the cella : * sometimes an opisthodomus or posticum was added in the rear. The very ancient temple at Rhamnus was built with a cella only, and an advanced vestibule before it. As the art of building became better known, and as luxury increased, the whole of the simple temple was surrounded by a peristyle, and placed within a peribolus or inclosed area of considerable extent. The peribolus was sometimes a wall only ; but frequently an elaborate portico, properly so called, sur- rounded the walls inwardly : upon these walls, and there only, were the paintings so frequently mentioned by ancient writings, where they were protected from the effects of the weather, and where they received light through the open intervals between the columns. The inner court of the Jewish temple was a peribolus of this kind, although perhaps it formed no part of the early Greek temple. Such omission would not militate against the assumption that this was taken from a Syrian model ; because in the early introduction of an art, we are at first content to limit our performances to some modification of the type. It has until lately been universally admitted, that all temples in which ranges of columns are found within the cella were hyp- aethral ; that is to say, they had a large aperture in the roof over the centre of the cella open to the heavens. This erroneous opinion has no other authority than a presumed correction of a passage in the text of Vitruvius, which is generally acknowledged to be as corrupt as it is at variance with the context. * See the Frontispiece, which is the elevation of the older temple at Rhamnus. TEMPLE AT JERUSALEM THE TYPE OF GRECIAN ARCHITECTURE. 101 There is an essential difference in the construction of Greek and Egyptian temples. The cella of the latter is of very limited dimen- sions ; it is a mere 'zo~ov, ku) \k Trig {ju'itrrig zt) tcc Tgioogotya. Ka< ux.oho^riv xcci ovrcog iTOiqcre too i7npef/,a,Ti too diUTiPOO. V. 17. "And he made two nets to hang down before the epithema of the columns, a net for the one epithema, and a net for the second epithema, in pensile work. 18. " And two rows of brazen bells interlaced with the pensile work, row above row ; and in like manner he made them for the second epithema." It appears from these passages, that a brass net was suspended from the two epithemata, namely, that part of them corresponding with the projecting corona or cornice, to which were attached two rows of brazen bells, shaped like poppies : these are in other parts of the chapter called pomegranates. The projection of the cornice permitted these nets to hang down before the zophorus or frize, and TEMPLE AT JERUSALEM THE TYPE OF GRECIAN ARCHITECTURE. 115 were probably the origin of the guttae, as they are termed by Vitruvius in Doric and Corinthian buildings. " Imprimis, ne fcederaretur illud pretiosum velum expansum ante fores, rem Salomon excogitavit ad aves expellendas idoneam.* Usum istud praestabat malogranata aenea, quae pendula ex subtilibus catenis facile commovebantur vento. . . . Graeci, 2 Paralip. iv. 13. vertunt zvdwet?, id est, tintinnabula, quae interdum referunt illorum nguram. Ea consuetudo pervetusta est etiam in templis Gentilium. . . . Non alienum ab hoc loco, quod memorat Plinius lib. xxxvi. 13. de monu- mento prope Clusium, ubi erant pyramides ita fastigiatae, ut in sumnio orbis aeneus et petasus unus omnibus sit impositus, ex quo pen- * This observation reminds us of a passage in the Ion of Euripides : — fyoirwrj fj&t), Xeiirovoiy re Y]ravoi Ylapvaoov Koiras' Avbw fit) ^pifiTTTeiv dpiyKols, Mf,b' Wldpiptii it av Tvipit, w Zrjvos K»/pv£, opt'tdw ya^0jj\ats 'layyf vikwv. The winged race already leave their nests, And this way from Parnassus bend their flight. Perch not, I warn you, on the pediments, Nor on the gilded roof. Herald of Jove, Though strong thy beak above the feather'd tribe, My bolt shall reach thee. And again, where some "temple-haunting martlet" seeks to make "his pendent bed and procreant cradle" under the "jutty" of the cornice: — Tts 6b' opvtdajv Kaivos npouefia ; Mciy v7ro dptyKuvs, evvaias Kapfripas Oliawv riKvois ; YaA/W a e'ipUpvoiv to^wv. 116 PROLUSIONES ARCHITECTONICS. deant catenis tintinnabula, quae, vento agitata, longe sonitus referant, ut Dodonae olim factum." * The fastigium of the temple of Jupiter-Tonans was encircled by bells in a manner precisely similar. " Immo etiam Suetonius testatur ab Augusto fuisse Jovis-Tonantis aedis fastigium tintinnabulis re- dimitum, nwhmus ulru Tsgifj-^e, id ipsum exprimente Dione in libro liv.t \. 19. Ka< \m 7cov xetyaXwv tojv (ttvXuv 'igyov ag'tvov kxtoc to a,t\ot{/, ts; areyr) Koivr) bi aXXjjXwv bebofxrj/ieyri /ii/kittcus boKols liai bir]Kovaats anavrtov, « tuvs fxeauvs toi^ovs vtto tuiv avrwy (rvyKparovfiirovs £vAajr eppufievearepovs bia ruvro yiveadat' rt)y b' vtto ras boKuvs areyr]v rijs avrijs vXrjs e/3ciXXerui iruvay e^eafjieyr/y els art'ujfiura TrporjKoWrfatv j(pvaov. 126 PROLUSIONES ARCHITECTONICS. intimately connected with them, as to form a structure of great strength and compactness ; their number and close connexion serving to constitute one mass, tied together by the long timbers at the top, the chambers acting as buttresses and supports to the main building. The number of the chambers is stated in Josephus * to be thirty, as wide as they were long, thus making them 5 cubits square on the lower floor : they are therefore properly called small. In Ezekiel, (xli. 6.) the number of chambers in the visionary temple is stated to be thirty rgig &g, three times repeated, making the whole number ninety. They appear to have been arranged so as to be twelve on each side, and six at the end : such a number along the sides, each 5 cubits long, will leave 8 cubits for eleven division-walls of sixteen inches English. The height of twenty cubits, as I have already observed, was given to the aggregate height of all with their floors. PLATE II. ELEVATIONS OF THE TEMPLES. Half the elevations of each are put in juxta-position, in order to show the degree of coincidence of one with the other. It is almost unnecessary to allude to the necessity of comparing the front of one, with the front of the pronaos of the other ; the latter having a peristyle, the other none. The general proportions will be seen to coincide; in the temple * TleptuKobo/jrjtre be rbv vabv ev kvkKio rpiaaovra ftpu-^eatv o'inots, oi avroyjj re rov n-avrus efieWov eaendai bta nvKvorr^ra (cat TrXijdos e^coQev TrepiKei/jtevor (cat be (cat rits ttaobovs uvrols bt' aWt)\tov Kareo-Kevaaav, eKaoros be twv oikwv rovrtov evpovs fiev e%eiv wevre T»;^ets, jur/covs be rovs avrovs, v-^os be e'tKoai. — Joseph. Jud. Antiq. viii. 3. DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES. 127 at Paestum the columns are lower, but the entablature is deeper. We generally find that the constituent parts of ancient buildings are more massive in proportion to their earlier age, but this rule is not invariable. (Antiq. of Magna-Graecia, Introd. p. x.) I have already alluded to the pensile net-work, which is described as de- pending from the two epithemata. It has been shown how the difference in the heights assigned to the temple in different parts of the sacred writings is to be recon- ciled, by including the upper epithema or pediment in the greater. The width of the temple being considered as the diameter of a circle, the greater height is equivalent to three such. The floor of the temple at Paestum is raised above the level of the surrounding ground, by a height equivalent to 2± cubits : the two epithemata together are ten cubits, and 17 ^ cubits is left for the height of the columns and their capitals : in one part of the sacred writings, they are said to be 18 cubits, and in another, their united height is said to have been 35 cubits, or each !7i. The latter reading is supported by the consideration of the general height above stated. The proportions of the columns to the epithemata are in greater conformity with those of the pronaos of the Temple of Concord, as it is termed, at Agrigentum, which has a kind of circular-headed window-opening above the cornice.* Fig. 1. Half the elevation of the porch of the Jewish temple. Fig. 2. Half the elevation of the pronaos of the temple at Paestum. Fig. 3. Section through the entablature of the pronaos of the temple at Rhamnus. Within the porch of the Jewish temple, ««t« to ytXap, there was lily-work sculptured upon the epistylia of four cubits over the capitals * Antiq. of Magna-Graecia, c. 3. pi. x. 128 PROLUSIONES ARCHITECTONICS. of the columns, and above it a beam extending over both columns, continued on the chambers, and designated from its material and position {AiXccfoov Wikpa. It is not that the lily-work of itself was four cubits, but the epithema of which it formed an enriched fascia. The yJxctOgov, or timber above the inner epithema, was continued all around the building, forming in fact the wall-plate, which, being a cubit in depth, left the inner epithema 4 cubits. We are not to expect that a description, although written with the intention of being as technical as the writer could make it, should exhibit the language of the professed architect, and that precision which a prac- tical knowledge of building alone can effect, so as to afford a perspicuous and comprehensive relation of the details. Enough how- ever is given, to convince an architect of the present day, that it relates to a mode of building which prevailed amongst the Greeks at a later period. It is indeed a matter of surprise, that technical terms have been employed so aptly as we find them to be. In the temple at Rhamnus this f/Jxufyov was marble ; and in its depth was constructed the ornamental ceiling, divided into deep panels, and called the lacunaria. In the Jewish temple, this orna- mental ceiling, called QarvoopM, which word has precisely the same meaning, was executed in timber, and, like its marble representative, was gilt : the words of Josephus ffgoo-xoXXytrtv xgvtrov show that the ceiling was gilded, the gold being attached by glue or some adhesive substance, and not that it was covered by plates of gold. In the French, the word colle, a derivative from xohXq, still bears this meaning ; it is the glue or size with which gold leaf is applied to works of stone or timber : r^oa-xoXXaa ygva-ov, or to gild the surface, is a most appropriate expression to denote such an operation. n . i. Fie -I. Zmdm tuiluhld by John Itialc.lrcliUtctunil /.i/>r„r, //,„/, /Mfiom. MW ImutonlUilahiAlitJbhn WbaU Ankiitratnll lilnaf, /fi