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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[Junk, 



A paper was read, " On the Classification of Egyptian Architecture," by 

 Mr. George Alexander, the tendency of which was to show, that many build- 

 ings, usually attributed to the earlier Egyptian or Vharaonic dynasties, were 

 in reaUty mucli more recent, being erected during the Ptolemaic and Roman 

 rule in Egypt ; wliich gave rise tu some obseiTatious by Mr. Hamilton and 

 Sir Gardner Wilkinson, who were present, 

 A paper was also read, entitled, 



"Remarks on the ijuestion raised by Sir Gardnor IVitkinson respectiny t/ie 

 origin oftlie Vertical Line in Architecture, and the lleturn to llie Horizontal 

 Line after tfie " Recival." By George Godwin, jun., F.U.S. & S.A.* 



At a recent meeting of the Institute of Architects, Sir Gardnor Willdnson 

 laid before the mcmhers some jjertinent remarks, concerning the .ippearauce 

 of the vertical line in architecture at an earlier period than is generally as- 

 cribed to its introduction— remarks which, while thev ])rove the acuteness 

 of his observation, and cannot but lead to the exercise of thought on the 

 part of those who are engaged in the study of arcbitectur;:! liistorv, serve as 

 evidence of the writer's interest ill our proceedings, .-ind entitle him to our 

 thanks. I should be sorry, then, if they were allowed to pass unnoticed, and 

 am tempted, in order that this may not be the case, to offer at once a few 

 observations on the subject. I feel some diffidence, I must confess, in com- 

 ing before you on this occasion, because there are many others present much 

 better qualified to respond satisfactorily to the inquiry ; indeed, I should not 

 have done so, could I have been certain that any individual would have of- 

 fered himself for the task. Experience, however, teaching that the only 

 certain way to have one's wants and wishes fulfilled, is to bestir oneself in 

 carrying them out personally, I have stepped into the breach, and must 

 plead the goodness of the intention .as an excuse. 



The bearing of Su- Gardnor Wilkinson's general argument was to the effect 

 that the vertical line, admitted to be the principal feature distinguishing 

 Gothic, or what has been termed Church Architecture from the Greek style, 

 whereof the predominance of horizontal lines is a characteristic — originated 

 at a much earlier date than the style it now distinguishes, and is to be found 

 extensively in tlie ruins of ancient Rome. Further, that after the revival of 

 the classic style in Italy, although the vertical line was still used throughout 

 the churches of Christian Rome, we do not jierceive it in the numerous and 

 splendid palazzi which arose there and in other parts of Italv, but that the 

 horizontal Mne is in them again made predominant. And the question be 

 then put was, " what was the origin of the vertical style in ancient Rome, 

 and the return to the horizontal style in the palaces of modem Italy." 



What Sir Gardnor Wilkinson means by the vertical line in ancient Rome, 

 and the appearance which it offered, are very clearly pointed out in the fol- 

 lowing sentence extracted from his paper : — 



"In an arch of triumph, a Roman composition, though the mouldings and 

 many other details are borrowed from the Greek, the vertical line commences 

 with the pedestal of the columns appended to its side, and extending up- 

 wards with the column, breaks through the entablature, which it obbg°es to 

 come forward to carry out and mark its direction, requires a projection of 

 the attic to correspond with the capital above the cornice, and terminates in 

 a statue ; thus continuing it uninterruptedly from the base to the summit of 

 the building." 



Now it appears to me, that this mode of arrangement may be ascribed 

 simply to the introduction of the arch as a chief feature in" construction, 

 and the decline, if not original want, of jiure taste on the part of the Roman 

 people. In Greece, and in the earlier sacred edifices of Rome, built before 

 the introduction of the arch, and in imitation of those of Greece, columns 

 bore the beams of wood or blocks of stone forming the upper part of the 

 building, and were a constituent portion of the faliric. Wlien, however, it 

 became necessarj' to cover in larger spaces than could be convoiiicutlv 

 spanned by single beams or blocks reaching from piUar to inll.ir, and the 

 principle of the arch liecame generally understood and acted upon, a con- 

 tinued wall from which the arch might sjiriiig lieeame requisite, and took the 

 place of columns. The Romans, however, who, if I may venture to say it, 

 had bttlc veal appreciation of harinony and fitness, (with a love of which the 

 Greeks as a people were thoroughly imbued,) could not consent to abandon 

 columns, but used them in the shape of accessories in nearly all struc- 

 tures the destination of which would allow of their introduction. They were 

 placed against the faces of buildings — attached to but not made a portion of 

 them. Proliably where a great inojection was not advisable, the height of 

 the columns (as by that of course the diameter must have been regulated,) 

 was lessened, and a jiedcstal {column's foot) was used to raise them to the 

 required elevation. Something to bind the upper part of the column to tlie 

 building was, however, requisite, and the entablature, then surrounding tlic 

 structure itself, may have heen brought out for that purpose over each of the 

 columns. These, of themselves, namely columns bearing nothing, performing 

 no office, but simply standing before a building with which they seemed to 

 have little connexion, must have failed to give pleasure even to the least edu- 

 cated minds ; ottering, however, as they did, a convenient plinth for vases, or 

 sculptured figures, these were found in some degree to lessen the objection, 

 and therefore it is not surprising that they were usually thus terminated, 

 sometimes with and sometimes without, the intervention of a similar projec- 

 tion of the attic under the figure. 



* We are glad to learn that the Socie't^ Libre des lieau.v Arts, at their last 

 annual meeting, awarded a silver medal to Mr. Godwin, as author of " The 

 Churches of London." — Editor of C, E. & A. Journal, 



In examining a Roman arch of triumph, that of Septimus Severus for 

 instance, as well as many others, the probability of this position becomes 

 very striking. And throughout the buildings of Rome so long as columnar 

 decorations were eni])loyc(l, this mode of arrangement seems to have been 

 almost necessarily followed. 



Sir Gardnor Wilkinson says that wherever deviation from Greek models 

 «as allowable, the vertical line constantly predominates, " and to such an ex- 

 tent, that even a Greek entablature is sacrificed to this their favourite senti- 

 ment, being broken up into detached parts and compelled to project and 

 recede, in order to allow the vertical bne to pass continuously through it to 

 the summit of the building." 



This seems to nie, but 1 mention it with great deference, to invest the use 

 of the vertical line by the Romans with a little too much importance. I am 

 compelled to think, a desb-e for its use was not the cause of the introduction 

 of breaks and recesses, but that its own ap]iearaiice, as well as these breaks, 

 were the accidental effect of the employment of adventitious columnar deco- 

 ration in situations where considerations of expense or convenience prevented 

 the use of a continuous entablature. Although it is probable that when once 

 the vertical line was strongly marked in a facade, the natural love of har- 

 mony in mind which finds annoyance in the constant recurrence of discordant 

 lines, would induce subsequent arrangements in unison with the prevailing 

 character. 



Immediately on the revival, we find columnar decoration Indulged in, even 

 with less restraint from good taste than before, producing in nearly all cases, 

 whether in Italy, France, or England, the predominance of the vertical line. 

 The cupola of the church of Santa Maria del Fiore, at Florence, by Briinel- 

 leschi, and the church dedicated to St. Francis at Rimini, by Alberti, both in 

 the 15th centuiy — the Basilica of Vicenza by Palladio, in the ICth — the prin- 

 cipal facade of St. Peter's at Rome, by Maderno, at the beginning of the 

 17th — and the hospital of the Intmlides in Paris, by .Mansart, in the 18th — 

 may all be referred to as instances. In our own metropolis, Inigo Jones, at 

 the Banquetting House, Whitehall, and Wren at St. Paul's Cathedral, afl'ord 

 us examples : and to bring the duration of this mode of an-angement up to 

 the present time, I may mention Jlessrs. CockereU and Richardson's design 

 for the Exchange, submitted to the Gresbam Committee, in the chief front of 

 which it strikingly prevails. 



Returning, however, for a moment to Italy at the period of the revival, 

 we find that works of the same artists wherein adventitious columnar decora- 

 tion was not introduced, display the horizontal line predominant, witness for 

 example the facade of the Pitti Palace at Florence, by Brunclleschi, and the 

 greater number of the numerous palatial residences at Rome and elsewhere, 

 which render Italy as eminent for the possession of modern works of archi- 

 tectural skill as she is for the remains of her ancient glories. Tliis pre- 

 dominance of the horizontal line however was not quite universal. In' the 

 Palace of the Chancer}' at Rome, for example, the vertical line is nearly con- 

 tinuous throughout the facade, although the entablature is unbroken. I will 

 not pretend now to enter upon an examination of the feeling and motive of 

 the architecture of this period, although it is a subject full of interest, and 

 well worthy of what it has not yet sufficiently received, namely, investigation 

 and analysis : should what has been said chance to lead to this verj' desirable 

 result on the part of a qualified investigator, the profession will be greatly 

 indebted to Sir Gardnor Wilkinson. 



Avie Moutli nf the f'istuln. — In consequence of the early breaking up of th' 

 ice in the Vistula, and the flood occasioned by the late heavy rains, the river 

 was choked up a mile and a half above the city of Dantzic, whence it takes 

 its course to the westward. The lelt bank of the river is here bounded by a 

 dyke, «b cli protects the fruitful low ruuniry behind it; the right bank is, 

 however, without any such artificial protection. because its immediate neigh- 

 bourhood consists of unfruitful sand land, and of a road of sand-hills or 

 downs, for a distance of several ficrniau miles, which separates the river 

 from the sea in such a decided manner, that it never appeared possible to any 

 one that from that side any danger was to be apprehended from the water in 

 the Vistula. But it happened on the night of the 31st of .Tanuary, when it 

 was expected that every moment the water would run over the dytes on the 

 left bank of the river, and pn duce a most dreadful inundation, that the 

 stream, encuniljcrcd with heavy masses of ice, took its course over the right 

 bank, and attained the .'sand hills. These being from forty to si.sty feet high, 

 stop]ied the waler, but the current undermined them just at the place where 

 those bills merely consist of loose sand, and are the narrowest. As soon as 

 they gave way. the accumulated mass of water and the heavy ice found their 

 way through ibis new ojiening wiih indescribable force, and made a broad 

 and deep channel into the sea. To stop this new natural mouth is impossible, 

 and if it could be done, no one would feel inclined to do it. About ihirty 

 years ago, the plan was proposed by members of the governnien to form 

 exactly the nesv moulh for ibe river which has just been made by a natural 

 c:uise,' Thus a great expence has been .saved, and a great benefit o crated at 

 llie same lime, by this occurrence. As regards the iiilluenee which this 

 event may have on tlie communication of the town of Dantzic with the Port 

 .l''airwater, and also wiih Poland and the interior oftbe country, there is not 

 Ihr least ground to apprehend any interruption. We by no means lose the 

 navigableness of the old Vistula, which, henceforward as l^efore, will bring 

 the Poll b barges and the timber transports to our town. Its depth is like- 

 wise sufiieieut in its whole lenglli to bear vessels of the same magnitude as 

 before. Neither does the occurrence make any change whatever in the com- ^ 

 raunication of that town with the sea-port.— jl/orntn^ Chronicle, 



