1S31).] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



461 



THE FINE ARTS OF GUEECE, DURING THE AGE OF 

 PERICLES. BY FREDERICK J. FRANCIS. 



[It affords us mucli pleasure to draw the attention of our Architec- 

 tural readers to a well written essay on the Fine Arts of Greece, during 

 the Age of Pericles, liy Jlr. Francis, a yo\nig ami aspiring archi- 

 tect; who, if we may judge by his writings, promises to be an orna- 

 ment to his profossiun. We have given below a lengthened extract 

 from the essay, which was read before several Literary Institutions, 

 and gave great satisfaction.] 



In ARCillTECTrRE, the Acropolis was, unduubli'dly, the proudest 

 triumph of (irecian skill. It (.onsisted of a lofty rock, standing in its 

 uua]ipr(iachabU> majeslv above surrounding buildings, and adorned 

 profusely with every variety of temple and sacred edifice, both votive 

 and monumental, rich in the hues of the most brilliant ])olychromy, 

 and glittering in all the brightness of Penlelican and Parian marijles. 



So splendid, indeed, was its architectural adornment, that it was 

 termed the " City of the Gods,'' and appeared as though it were one 

 vast offering to the divinity. "It was the peerless gem of (ireece — 

 the glory and pride of art — the wonder and envy of the world ;" en- 

 riched with temples incomparably more beautiful than those the Per- 

 sians had demolished, and decorated with those spoils and trophies, 

 which had marked the progress of the Girecian arms. 



We pass by, without particu'ar observation, solely for the sake of 

 brevity, and in no degree from their being unworthy of notice, the 

 various public edifices erected without the Cecropian citadel ; such, 

 for instance, as the hexastyle temple of Theseus — the famed Dionysiac 

 theatre — the Stoa — the Gymnasium — the Choragic monument of Lysi- 

 crates — and that magnificent decastyle, peripteral, and perhaps, hy- 

 pccthral temide, dedicated to the worship of the Olympian Jove at 

 Elis; and wish you to look more particularly at the unecpralled gran- 

 deur of the Acropolis itself, whii-h, towering above the homes and 

 habitations of private citizens, raised far above svn-rounding buildings, 

 defended on all sides by deep and precipitous rocks, and inaccessible 

 only through the goi-geous Propylsa, which formed its western en- 

 trance, was the one sacred spot which all the resources of art had lieen 

 exhausted to beautify, and in whose decoration the most costly trea- 

 sures were lavished and expended. 



It would, of coarse, be im]iossible in this necessarily limited detail, 

 to describe with any minuteness all the many temples and sacred 

 monumental endjlems with which the summit of the Acropolis was 

 covered ; or the stately and majestic sculptures, which adorned their 

 pediments, decorated their friezes, or in the form of colossij statues, 

 were placed in their interiors as objects of worship and adoration. 



Still, from the beauteo\is, though shattered and crumliling remains 

 of the Propylcca, and the Parthenon — the first, beyond all il(nibt, the 

 greatest production in civil architecture of which ancient Greece 

 could boast, the latter, equally unrivalled as a sacred edifice, dedi- 

 cated to the goddess Minerva, as the tutelary goddess of Athens, and 

 standing in the centre of the citadel an object of supreme and com- 

 manding beauty — i'roiu these two buildings, which mark distinctly the 

 architecture of the Perideau age, may be inferred an accurate idea of 

 the perfection which this branch of the Fine Arts had then attained. 



The Propylaea, so called from its forming the vestibule to the grand 

 entrances which led to the citadel, was erected on the western, anil, 

 indeed, the only accessible approach. The entire building occupied 

 the whole space, which formed the natural entrance to the summit of 

 the rock, nearly 170 feet, (iO feet being occupied by the centre, the 

 rest taken up by the wings, which belonged to the building: and was 

 thus at once, a s(iurce of strength, a means of defence, and a vast orna- 

 mental lortificaliiai. 



The Propylcfuui, or great vestibule, presented a front of six ele- 

 gantlv |U'o|iortioned, and massive tluted Doric columns, leading to 

 another beautiful vestibule, nearly 50 feet in depth, the roof of which 

 being sustained by six Ionic columns in a double row, divided the 

 inner vestibule into three aisles or compartments; while the ceiling 

 was laid upon marble beams, and adonied with some of the noblest 

 monuments of art. The wings of the building projected oO feet in 

 advance (Ui eitlier side, showing a front, elevation of a plain wall with 

 hieriigly|ihics in the frieze; and by their simple and undecorated 

 finish, must have given to the whole edifice the etiect and proportion 

 of --imiile, unpretending, and yet pure and classic beauty. This incom- 

 parable structure was erected entirely of Pentelican marble, and the 

 effect whic'h it had in the days of its unnuitilated grandeur must have 

 been majestic and impressive in the extreme. 



Not laily did it glitter in all the whiteness of the marble of Mcaint 

 Pentelicum, but its interior glowed with all the varied hues and shades 

 of colouring, and all the minuteness of scul[}tural detail. The cloud- 

 i ess skies of Attica, and the unruffled serenity of her climate, per- 



mitted a species of adornment, which, in a murky district like our 

 own, would soon be disfigured and destroyed : and it gave to the 

 works of the Grecian artists that pec\diar charm which we, at any 

 rate, can never hope to emulate or etpial. 



Within the spacious courts of these proud and commanding vesti- 

 bules, were enshrined many noble examples of the perfection which 

 the sister arts of painting and siailpturc liad then reached. The left 

 wing was decorated witli paintings by Polygnotus, whereon were repre- 

 sented, with all the [lowers of artistic genius, the ever memorable and 

 stirring events connected with the Trojan war; and, at intervals, 

 throughout the whole edifice, were placed, in striking and apjiropriate 

 localities, groups of equestrian statues, designed with all the originality, 

 and executed with all the perfection, which especially belonged to 

 that age and people. 



The'Propyiffia, in short, was the glory and pride of the Athenians — 

 famed throughout all the surrounding states of Greece; nay, it became 

 so celebrated, that even the national enemies of Greece paid homage 

 to its magnificence ; for, when in the assembly of the Thebans, Epa- 

 minondas'desired to convey to his audience the importance of trans- 

 ferring the glory of Athens to Thebes, he made reference to the Pro- 

 pyltea alone, as' if in that structure there were concentrated all that 

 was glorious and magnificent in art, and said, "Oh! men of Thebes, 

 you must uproot the Propylsa of the Acropolis, and plant them in 

 front of the Cadmean capital ! " 



Passing this splendid structure, entering the citadel, and ascending 

 several steps, we i-oine to the sacred and revered temple of the Par- 

 thenon, dedicated to the virgin goddess, and, undoubtedly, the noblest 

 monument of architectural genius the world has ever seen. 



It stands upon the summit, and in the centre of the Acropolis, ele- 

 vated considerably above the Propylsa and the adjacent buildings, and 

 executed in the purest marble the country could produce. You are 

 all, doubtless, well acquainted with its simple, yet expressive form, 

 its classic harmony of proportion, its unbroken outlines, its massive 

 and majestic grandeur. 



It is termed a peripteral and hypat.hval temple, that is to say, it is 

 perfectly surrounded with colunuis, anil contains an interior cella, 

 exposed to the external air. 



As far as it is possible for this branch of art to embody the true 

 sublime, and we know that it is capable of doing so in no mean degree, 

 has been accomplished by the peripteral parallelogrammafic temple 

 of the Greeks. Such was the sacred Parthenon. In length it measured 

 more than 200, in breadth about 100 feet; containing, at each end, 

 a loftv and commanding portico of tight fluted Doric columns in a 

 iloul)le row, 3"i feet in height; and having, likewise, a colonnade of 

 similar proportions along each side, to preserve the harmony and unity 

 of the design. Even now, in the ruineil and mutilated condition to 

 which it has been, by the wreck of time and the ruthless hand of in- 

 vasion, reduced, it is peculiarly calculated to rouse in the mind of the 

 beholder, feelings of sublimity and awe. 



What, then, inustit have been in the palmy days of its original and 

 pristine grandeur ? perfect and unspoiled, and decorated both within 

 and without, by some of the most splendid productions of art, sculp- 

 ture and painting lending their aid to heighten that undefined and yet 

 irresistible cliariu which belongs to the majestic unity of its form, and 

 the classic simplicity of its unbroken outline? 



The Parthenon was, in short, the chf a'uurre of Grecian art, un- 

 equalled, as a monument of architectural skill, either in ancient or 

 modern time. "Its dimensions," remarks ;ni anonymous writer, "were 

 sufficiently large to produce an impression of grandeur and sublimity, 

 which was not disturbed by any obtrusive division of [larts ; and, 

 whether viewed at a small or a great distance, there was nothing to 

 divert the mind of the spectator from conteuiplatiiig the unity, as well 

 ;is the majesty, of mass and outline, circumstances which form the first 

 and most reinarkable characteristic of every Greek temple erected 

 during the purer ages of Grecian taste and genius." 



Scarcelv inferior to these, though less pretending, were the Ionic, 

 temples of Erectheus, and Minerva Polias, the renowned Odeon, the 

 little temple of Victory without wings, and others ; all remarkable for 

 that characteristic simplicity, that proper relation of parts to a whole, 

 that harmonious proportion and unadorned beauty, which form the 

 distinguishing features of Grecian architecture. 



Never was there a peo]ile who understood so completely, and re- 

 tained with such exactitude, the elements of simple beauty in this 

 department of the Fine Arts, as the ancient inhabitants of (ireece. In 

 the mouldering relics of their immortal productiuns, their sacred tem- 

 ples, fanes, monuments, and theatres, there is nothing of that ornate 

 and finished elegance so peculiar to the Koiiiau style ; nothing of the 

 tasteful splendours of Moorish architecture, as developed in the fas- 

 cinating outlines and gorgeous decorations of the ancient palace of the 

 Alhambra ; nothing of that glittering grace and oxcpusiteness of detail 



