RELIGION, EDUCATION, FINE ARTS. 



507 



The main character of Egyptian architecture' 

 is that of great strength with irregularity of 

 taste. This is observable in the pillars of 

 the temples, the parts on which the greatest 

 share of skill has been lavished. The temple 

 of Karnak is an example. 



In these columns we may notice that sturdi- 

 ness is the prevailing characteristic. The de- 

 sign has been the support of a great weight, 

 and that without any particular regard to 

 proportion or elegance, either as a whole or 

 in parts. When assembled in rows or groups, 

 the columns had an imposing effect, because, 

 from their height andthickness, they filled the 

 eye and induced the idea of placid and easy 

 endurance. 



Grecian Architecture. From Egypt, 

 the architectural art spread to Greece, 

 where it passed from the gigantic to the. 

 chaste and elegant. The period in which 

 it flourished in the greatest perfection was that 

 of Pericles, about 440 before Christ, when 

 some of the finest temples at Athens were 

 erected. After this, it declined with other 

 arts, and was carried to Rome, where, however, 

 it never attained the same high character. 



Aided doubtless by the examples of Egyp- 

 tian art, the Greeks gradually improved the 

 style of architecture, and originated those dis- 

 tinctions which are now called the " Orders of 

 Architecture." By this phrase is understood 

 certain modes of proportioning and decorat- 

 ing the column and its entablature. They 

 were in use during the best days of Greece 

 and Rome, for a period of six or seven cen- 

 turies. They were lost sight of in the dark 

 ages, and again revived by the Italians at the 

 time of the restoration of letters. The Greeks 

 had three orders, called the Doric, Ionic, and 

 Corinthian . These were adopted and modified 

 by the Romans, who also added two others 

 called the Tuscan and Composite. 



The Doric Order. This is the earliest 

 of the Greek orders, and we see in it a noble 

 simplicity on which subsequent orders were 

 founded. The shaft of the Doric column 

 had no base, ornamental or otherwise, but 

 rose directly from the smooth pavement or 

 stylobate. It had twenty flutings, which were 

 superficial, and separated by angular edges. 

 The perpendicular outline was nearly straight. 

 The Doric capital was plain, being formed of 

 a few annulets or rings, a large echinus, and a 

 flat stone at top called the abacus. The archi- 

 trave was plain ; the frieze was intersected by 

 oblong projections called triglyphs, divided 

 into three parts by vertical furrows, and orna- 

 mented beneath by guttse, or drops. The 

 spaces between the triglyphs were called met- 

 opes and commonly contained sculptures. To 



have a just idea of the Doric, therefore, we 

 must go back to the pure Grecian era. The 

 finest examples are those of the temple of 

 Theseus and the Parthenon at Athens. The 

 Parthenon, which is now a complete ruin, has 

 formed a model in modern architecture. It 

 was built by the architect Ictinus, during the 

 administration of Pericles, and its decorative 

 sculptures are supposed to have been executed 

 under direction of Phidias. The platform or 

 stylobate consists of three steps, the upper- 

 most of which is 227 feet in length and 101 

 in breadth. The number of columns is eight 

 in the portico of each front, and seventeen in 

 each flank, besides which there is an inner 

 row of six columns, at each end of the cell. 



The Ionic Order In this order the shaft 

 begins to lengthen, and to possess a degree 

 of ornament, but still preserving a great 

 degree of simplicity of outline. In the best 

 examples, as in the Parthenon, the column 

 was eight or nine diameters in height. It had 

 a base often composed of a torus, a scotia, and 

 a second torus, with intervening fillets. This 

 is called the Attic base. Others were used in 

 different parts of Greece. The capital of this 

 order consisted of two parallel double scrolls, 

 called volutes, occupying opposite sides, and 

 supporting an abacus, which was nearly square, 

 but molded at its edges. These volutes have 

 been considered as copied from ringlets of hair, 

 or perhaps from the horns of Jupiter Ammon. 

 The Ionic entablature consisted of an archi- 

 trave and frieze, which were continuous or un- 

 broken, and a cornice of various successive 

 moldings, at the lower part of which was often 

 a row of dentils, or square teeth. The ex- 

 amples at Athens of the Ionic order were the 

 temple of Erectheus, and the temple on the 

 Ilissus, both now destroyed. Modern imita- 

 tions are common in public edifices. 



The Corinthian Order, This was the light- 

 est and most highly decorated of the Grecian 

 orders. The base of the column resembled 

 that of the Ionic, but was more complicated. 

 The shaft was often ten diameters in height, 

 and was fluted like the Ionic. The capital 

 was shaped like an inverted bell, and covered 

 on the outside with two rows of leaves of 

 the plant acanthus, above which were eight 

 pairs of small volutes. Its abacus was molded 

 and concave on its sides, and truncated at the 

 corners, with a flower on the center of each 

 side. The entablature of the Corinthian 

 order resembled that of the Ionic, but was 

 more complicated and ornamented, and had, 

 under the cornice, a row of large oblong pro- 

 jections, bearing a leaf or scroll on their un- 

 der side, and called modillions. No vestiges 

 of this order are now found in the remains 



