LESSONS IN AEOniTECTURE. 



LESSONS IN ARCHITECTURE. IV. 



PROGRESS OF ARCHITECTURE IN BOTPT AND INDIA THE 

 COLUMN. 



PER the rude stylo of building practised in early time* had 

 spread itself in various forms over tho ancient world, true art 

 at hist made its appearance. The great nations of 

 antiquity, as they advanced in civilisation, created a 

 national architecture, each with a feeling and oxjirfH- 

 sion peculiarly its own. As soon as tho atones used 

 Lii buildings began to assumo a cubical, prismatic, or 

 cylindrical form, and the square and compasses gave a 

 new direction to stone-cutting, architects gave wing 

 to their imagination, because they now had the 

 means of realising its creations. Symmetry was 



studied in the ground-plan of their edifices ; their 

 architraves were raised upon pillars and columns ; 

 and experience ere long taught them the strength 

 of every stone, and the proper height of every 

 part of a building. 



The mont ancient monument* of Egypt ornamented with 

 column* are situated in tho Heptanomi*, an old diruion of the 

 country which corresponded pretty nearly with the district 

 called Middle Egypt by modern geographer*, and which wa* 

 situated between the Delta and the Thebaid, ***"" from 

 24 N. lat. to 30 N. lat. These monument* exhibit speci- 

 mens of the greatest simplicity, and strongly analo- 

 gous to those of the Doric order. The monument* 

 of India excavated in the rock prevent the *ame 

 principles of these primitive order*. In these two 

 countries, which are the cradle* of architecture, 

 artists at first decorated their columns and their 

 capitals with ornaments of which the idea* war* 

 taken from the local vegetation, to which were some- 

 times added others borrowed from animal nature. 

 Tims ia Egypt, after having set np the simple 

 cylindrical shaft for their column, they sculptured 

 upon it branches of the lotus, meeting each other 





proportion which 

 elevated architec- 

 ture into an art. 

 We shall not at- 

 tempt to decide the 

 question whether pillars and 

 columns were first formed in ex- 

 cavations, or in separate construc- 

 tions ; but it is evident that they 

 were the first elements of a regular 

 architecture that is to say, of 

 the orders which constituted the 

 first basis of architectural har- 

 mony. To the pyramidal con- 

 structions of Egypt and of Asia 

 speedily succeeded the erection 

 of palaces and other edifices, in 

 which square and cylindrical pil- 

 lars formed a most essential 

 part : the great weight of tho 

 materials employed requiring that 

 they should be supported at short 

 distances for tho formation of in- 

 ternal and external galleries. 

 These single pillars could only be 

 connected at the top by architraves 

 of such dimensions as combined 

 the ratio of their breadth with 

 the proportions of the supporting 

 power of the co- 

 lumns. Upon these 

 architraves were 

 placed platforms 

 or ceilings of flat 

 stones, which, by 

 their thickness, 

 formed a new di- 

 mension above tho former; and upon these 

 platforms were formed terraces or flat roofs, 

 which were surrounded by another row of 

 stones forming a border, and having an outward projection 

 which preserved the facade from tho effects of the rain. 

 These were the oripin of cornices and entablatures. 

 The column, in preference to tho square pillar, be- 

 came the type of architectural proportion. Simple 

 at first, it presented nothing but a cylindrical shaft, 

 without ornament, and only expressing the purpose 

 for which it was originally intended. The oldest 

 specimens in Egypt are of this description ; Asia 

 presents similar specimens ; and Greece, with the 

 whole of the West, follows the same track: thus 

 proving that everywhere there is an invariable simi- 

 larity in the origin of the arts. The simplicity, 

 elegance, and utility of the column engaged the attention of 

 architects, and concentrated all the efforts of their imagination. 

 Thus it became their architectural type or model, and formed 

 tho nucleus of the different characteristic styles of building 

 that were adopted by the great nations of antiquity. 



31 N.E. 



and fastened together by fillets. The capital 



Hence arose that harmony and , which crowned the column was at first composed 



of the bud of the 

 same flower. This 

 first idea was after- 

 wards developed in 

 the application of 

 vegetation of every kind to tho 

 ornamentation of the columns oi 

 the temples and of the great 

 public edifices. Among the six 

 examples of Egyptian capitals 

 given in this page there is one 

 composed of the leaves of the 

 palm-tree. 



Egypt, thus adorned with orders 

 of architecture, had its national 

 style. The numerous works upon 

 the history and antiquities of 

 Egypt published during the last 

 half-century have made us ac- 

 quainted with its archaeological 

 treasures, such as the temples and 

 palaces of Thebc.-, the Isle 01 

 PhiliB,Karnoc, Abousambul, EdfoC, 

 Memphis, and others ; and large 

 public buildings, decorated with 

 numerous columns, immense pil- 

 lars, obelisks, and sphinxes, which 

 give to this style a peculiar cha- 

 racter of antiquity and grandeur, 

 of which mere 

 verbal descrip- 

 tion would, fail 

 to convey any 

 idea to the 

 reader. 



In India, as 

 in Egypt, iso- 

 lated columns and pillars appear to have 

 had their origin in subterranean excava- 

 tions for architectural purposes; of these 

 numerous examples are seen at Ellora, in the palace or tempV. 

 of Indra. These pillars are much shorter than those of Egypt, 

 their bases and capitals occupying a considerable 

 portion of the height of the column, and the enta- 

 blature, or rather the corona, is less accurately 

 traced. In cases where the Indians cut out the 

 rock for the purposes of decoration, and sculptured it 

 over with various ornaments, the column assumes a 

 lighter appearance, and the principle of an order of 

 architecture can be traced. 



The excavated temples of India are numerous and 

 extensive ; the principal ones are those of Elephanta, 

 Salsette, and Velloro, or Ellora. Elephanta is situated 

 near Bombay, on a small island of the same name, which reoeiTed 

 this appellation from the figure of an elephant being cut out upon 

 the rocks on the southern shore. The grand temple is 120 feet 

 square, and is supported by four rows of pillars ; along the side 

 of the cavern are fifty colossal statues from twelve to fifteen feet 



SCULPTURED GATEWAY AT KARNAC. 



