45« 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[December, 



L.ny discussion of the experiments of the Commission of the Academy, 

 could not be designated here ;is tliey deserve. We shall therefore 

 content ourselves with confidently submitting the preceding facts and 

 reHections to every impartial man, and especially to the chief jiart of 

 the members of the honourable Inatitutiun of Ctvil £iiginurs of Great 

 Britain, 



COUNTER REMARKS. 



Sir — It appears to me that the "Catholic" whose letter you have 

 inserted at page 439, is a bit of a Jesuit, since, if he is really of opinion 

 that nothing at all approaching to religious controversy ought to be 

 mixed up with architectural topics, he should have reprimanded his 

 brother Catholic, wdio first set the example, and thereby rendered 

 counter remarks almost unavoidable on the part of others. Yet though 

 there was nothing improper in Mr. Welby Pugin's sneering at and 

 calumniating th.e Protestant cliurch, it is now highly so, forsootli, in 

 Mr. Habei'shon, or any one else, to make any remarks to the disad- 

 vantage of the Romish church ! The plain meaning of which is, that 

 it was all very fair for Protestants to be bullied by Mr. Pugin, but if 

 they presume to open their moutlis in return, then an architectural 

 publication "is not a fit vehicle for religious controversy." How par- 

 ticularly modest and consistent 1 



Pray, has either Mr. Pugin or the "Catholic," seen a publication by 

 Dr. Gruneisen that has recently been published in Germany, under the 

 title of " De Protestantisrao Artibus hand Infesto " ? It would be worth 

 their attention, and also that of the Protestants themselves of this 

 country, more especially our cliurch commissioners, for the writer 

 proves very satisfactori y that the early Reformers were by no means 

 hostile to the admission of painting and other decoration in churches; 

 in proof of which he quotes some very strong passages from the writ- 

 ings of Zuinglius and Calvin. And, indeed, if we tolerate illustrated 

 and pictorial bibles, it does seem rather absurd to affect to be scan- 

 dalized at similar subjects being represented on the walls of churches, 

 or to consider painting almost as an alliance with Popery, as if pic- 

 tures and no pictures constituted the essential difference between tlie 

 church of Rome and that of England. 



So much for the "Catholic," and "religious controversy." Let me 

 now comment upon the paragraph signed B.A. page 44t5, the w"riter 

 of which seems to be of opinion that the recent buildings at Munich 

 have been praised far beyond their due, and who is therefore not 

 likely to approve of the article headed " Architecture of Munich." 

 However much in the right he may be in the estimate he has formed 

 of the bui-dings themselves, he is very much in the wrong if lie sup- 

 poses that the reviewer in the Foreign Quarterly is the person who 

 has chiefly extolled them beyond their merits. To be convinced of 

 this, he has only to look into the second volume of Count Raczynski's 

 splendid work, "Histoirede I'ArtModerne en AUemagne," to discover 

 that other persons besides reviewers have the temerity to admire 

 what such men as Klenze, as Gartner, and OhlmiiHer have done at 

 Munich. Of the Gothic church by the last-mentioned the Count 

 speaks in terms of unqualified admiration, and he professes to be 

 charmed by the singular yet captivating style of Gartner ; — and to 

 judge from some specimens of detail given in the work, the last 

 justly merits all the commendation bestowed upon him. I very much 

 question whether any of our architects have the ability to compose, 

 or the courage afterwards to execute, such an original composition as 

 a capital there shown, from the new Library at Mvm'ch. hi regard 

 to Klenze, the Count is somewhat more measured in his praise, for 

 he objects to his taste in many instances, but he brings forwards 

 Schinckel's testimony in favour of the Pinacotheca ; and that testimony 

 certainly says a very great deal indeed, because there is no class of 

 men who are less addicted to the foible of exaggerating the merits of 

 each other's works, than architects ; at any rate, in this country they 

 cannot be accused of evincing much cordial admiration of their rivals. 



Nemo. 



Terrestrial Magnetism.— M. E. Capurci, Director of the Oliservatory at 

 Naples, has reported that he has determined, by observations with Gaml)py's 

 instruments, that after the eruption of Vesuvius on the 1st of January last, 

 that the (lip of the needle suddenly diminished half a degree at least. 



Fossil liemains. — M. Duval has presented to the Academy of Sciences some 

 fossil remains of mammilers fount in an < sseous breccia in a nii.untain c-d'ed 

 the Marbriere. near Grasse, in the department of the Var. This breccia is 

 i'ound five miles from the sea-shore, and about .'iOO yards above its level, m 

 calcareous marbles forming the upper layer of the chaik of that district. 



BRITISH MUSEUM.— No. IV. 



{From the Timts.) 



The ^Egina Marbles. 



Ix the Pliigalian room of the British Museum, against the southern 

 wall, a pediment has recently been erected, corresponding with that 

 opposite, which contains 11 of the casts from the jEgina statues, an 

 account of wdiioh some time since appeared in this Journal.* On this 

 we are about to describe are placed five more, which were brought 

 from the ruins of the same temple of Jupiter Panhelleneus, in the 

 island of jEgina. These five statues were all that were found belong- 

 ing to the eastern front sufficiently in a state of preservation to assure 

 of their original destination and design ; and it is the more to be 

 lamented, as that was the principal facade of the edifice, and con- 

 tained the great entrance into the soros of the temple. This front 

 was by far the most magnificent in its decorations, the esplanade 

 before it extending 100, while that of the western was but oO feet ; 

 the statues also on this tympanum were more numerous, there being 

 originallv on this 14 figures, and but II on the other; they are also 

 both in style and sculpture far superior, and appear as the work of 

 the master, the others in comparison as those of tlie scholars; the 

 superiority of conception and manner is apparent, the forms are more 

 muscular and robust, the veins and muscles more displayed, an imi- 

 tation of a maturer nature. It is remarkable that they occupy less 

 space than those of the western pediment. At the first opening of 

 the ruins £ J statues were discovered, besides the four female figures 

 belonging to th.e Acroteria. To the artist the canon of proportion and 

 the system of anatomical expression observable throughout the whole 

 may he regarded as the models whence was derived that stid bolder 

 style of conception which afterwards distinguisl.ed the sculptors and 

 made the perfection of the Athenian school ; what the works of Ghu- 

 landia were to Raphael these were to Phidias. The surprise of the 

 common observer inay be eix.itsd when lie contemplates the%e figures, 

 however disadvantageous tlie circumstances under wdjich lie views 

 them. Perhaps lie cannot call to mind, in the capital of his country, 

 however civilization and the arts may have advanced, any sculptures 

 of the IGth century which appear equ .'.iy imposing; the more so, 

 when he reflects that the history of their origin is buried in the dark- 

 ness of 2,400 years. Long after this period Lysippus held as a prin- 

 ciple of the ideal, which has in later times been too general.y followed, 

 to'make men as they seem to be, not as they real.y are. In this group 

 there is not, as seen in the opposite one, any figure immediately under 

 the centre of tlie tympan, that of Minerva, which was found, and 

 which, no doubt, had occupied it, being thotight too much broken to 

 be placed. The one nearest is the figure of a warrior, who appears 

 iis havii'g fa'len wounded to the ground. He is supporting himself on 

 the rigi.t arm, endeavouring to rise. The hand no doubt held a sword, 

 as the rivets of brimas sti'l rsmainiog indicate. On the left arm is 

 a shield held close to the body, the "hand enclasping the It amon, or 

 holder. The countenance, contrary to the one in a similar position 

 on the opposite pediment, seems calmly to regard, and to mark the 

 moment to resist, with any chance of success, an advancing enemy 

 who is rushing forward to seize his spoils. Whether this statue is 

 rightly placed, we think wi;l admit of doubt. The figure rushing for- 

 ward could not have iufiictsd the wound by which he has been dis- 

 abled, and it seems more' probable that an arrow, wdiich an archer at 

 the extreme of the pediment has just discharged, has been the cause 

 of his wound, and that it should, instead of bsing on the ground, have 

 been placed as if in the act of falling. In the attitude of the attacking 

 warrior a desire is shown to give the greatest interest to the action ; 

 the position of the riglit leg seems calculated to give movement to 

 the figure as seen from below : behind the fallen an unarmed figure is 

 stooping forward, apparently to raise him ; but this statue would seem 

 rather to belong to the other pediment, where a hollow is found in 

 the pedestal on wdiich the goddess Minerva stands, which appears to 

 have been made to allow room for its advance. Among the statues 

 found, but broken, was one which stood netirly over the body of the 

 wounded hero to defend him against the advancing enemy before 

 mentioned. Near the archer is another combatant on the ground ; 

 the countenance of this figure is aged, the beard most minutely sculp- 

 tured ; it is of a square form and descends to the breast; on the lip 

 are long mustachios. It is by far the most aged of either group, and 

 appears to be a chief of consequence ; he is raising himself on his 

 shield ; the expression ol the face is very fine, it has a smile on it, 

 though evidently in pain. The archer is a Phrygian, and his body is 

 protected by leathern armour; as he has no siiield allowed, he is 

 holding the "bow, which is small and of the Indian shape, in the left 

 hand with the arm outstretched; the bow-string has been dr.iwn to 

 the ear, the arrow seems just to have sped, and the exultation of the 

 coimtenance shows it has taken etfect. Three of these figures have 



