11 



Museum Account of ik 



particularly in (hose essential and 

 higher qualifies of art which distin- 

 guish (he temples built hj' the Greeks, 

 from those erected by the Romans. — 

 The Greeks give to the flanks of their 

 temples one column more than double 

 the number of those in fronf, as in the 

 temple of Minerva Partlipnim, at 

 Athens, which has eight columns in 

 front, and seventeen in the flunks ; 

 the Romans, on the contrary, gave only 

 double the number of intercolumnia- 

 tions, nicaking two less than the Greeks, 

 as in the temples of Manly Fortune, at 

 Rome, and the Maison Quar<^e, at Nis- 

 Dies ; while this Fhigaleian, which is 

 hexastile and peripteral, has six co- 

 lumns in front and rear, and the ex- 

 traordinary number of fifteen in flank. 

 The walls of the cell were always placed 

 opposite the columns of the Pronaos and 

 poslicum (except in the single example, 

 I believe, of thi^ temple of Theseus, at 

 Athens,) and in this it is much nar- 

 rower. The interior order of (he ceU 

 is Ionic, while the outside is Doric, and 

 the south end of the cell is supported 

 by (he unusual addition of a Corin- 

 thian column, between (avo Ionics, hav- 

 ing, as Mr. Combe de>:crihes it, " apecn- 

 liar capital," and being the only ancient 

 example of a central column in front. 

 Again these Ionian columns are of very 

 " peculiar" shape, such as were never 

 seen before, and which differ from Mr. 

 Combe's description, who defines them 

 as semi-cohimns, which projected from 

 the walls," while the engraved plan 

 gives them as piers ending with half 

 columns, projecting a whole diameter 

 and a half from the wall, and the 

 angle columes in still worse taste. — 

 Nor does the temple stand in the usual 

 direction of East and West, but, as Mr, 

 Combe informs us, only a few degrees 

 removed from the direction of North 

 and South. It is built of a beautifully 

 smooth and durable stone. The Doric 

 columns in antis to the two entrances 

 also differ in size from those of (he 

 pronaos and posticum. From these 

 variations in style, and from its general 

 inferiority of taste, both in (he architec- 

 ture and sculpture, I infer that it was 

 executetl by artists much inferior to 

 those employed on the Parthenon, the 

 Erectheum, the Propylea, the Agora, 

 and other of the best structures of 

 Athens. They differ as the works of 

 provincial artists, executed in the pro- 

 vinces, differ from those of an enlight- 

 ened metropolis, where all the merit 

 and talent of a state congregate, and 



e Phignleian Marbles. [Feb. 1. 



although (he sculptures were executed 

 by one of the same artists who was 

 employed upon the Parthenon, and 

 from the same subjects, it is evident, 

 from (heir want of uniformity in style, 

 from their exaggeration of muscular 

 action, from tiie want of accuracy in 

 the proportions of some of the figur. s 

 of grace, and of expression in others, 

 that the great mind of the masier-spirit 

 of Athenian art, Phidias, vras wanting 

 in the siiperintendanri^ of (his. Yet t'le 

 boldness cf (heir relief, the sj)!rit of 

 (heir design, and thebo.iutifni princi- 

 ples of composition exhiiiiied in some 

 of the gro'.ips, place them only second 

 to the culpturesof the Parthenon. 



England now possesses a school of 

 art an.l design in these united trea- 

 sures (I'at no countiy in the world can 

 equal. Stvidents now couie to London 

 from Rome, from Rlilan, froiii Flo- 

 rence, fron« Paris, from Madrid, from 

 America, to stuiy the pure principles of 

 art in En'^'land, an 1 (he two leading 

 artists of Eiircpe, Canova and Haydon, 

 have sealed the title of (lie British Mu- 

 seum as the leading school of design 

 in Europe. Casts from (hem have gone 

 to all parts of (he (wo kingdoms and of 

 the Morld, (o enligh(en and refine the 

 s(yle of modern ai'( from (he gross im- 

 purides of the Roman autt Italian 

 schools. 



These bassl-rilievi formed the em- 

 bellishments to the frieze of the Ionic 

 order, inside the cell of the temple. 

 They consist of twenty-three slabs, each 

 twenty-five inches and a quarter high, 

 and vary in their length. '• The slabs 

 were found," says Air. Combe, '• lying 

 upon (he floor of (he (emple, probably 

 in (he same places which (hey had oc- 

 cupied when (hey fell down from (heir 

 original situaduus in the frieze. When 

 first discovered they w.^rc much more 

 mutilated (ban (hey now appear to be, 

 having been very much broken, partly 

 by their own fall to (he ground, and 

 partly by (he injury (hey had^ received 

 from (he heavy masses of building ma- 

 terials which fell upon (hem : indeed 

 it was a task of no easy accomplishment 

 to remove the immense blocks of stone 

 and rubbish, under which they were 

 l)uried to a considerable depth. Every 

 one of the slabs h.ad been broken into 

 a great number of pieces, and many of 

 them were shattered into no less than 

 thirty or forty fragments. The patience 

 and skill of those who collected toge- 

 ther those numerous pieces, many of 

 which were very minute, and found at 

 considerable 



