1840.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



293 



REMARKS OX ANTIENT AND MODERN PORTICOES. 



Translatiok of some Remarks of Milizen, upon the Portico of the 

 Piiiitlieon Lit Rome, with general observations upon that feature in 

 Architecture, including a notice of some of the Porticoes of Lon- 

 don. By A. \V. H. 



To tlie uninitiated nothing may appear to be so easy as to compose 

 a good portico ; the fact, however, is exactly the reverse ; the very 

 simple and dignified character of its details, demanding consummate 

 taste on the part of the architect to combine it with the peculiar style 

 of the building to which it is to attach, and serve as chief ornament. 

 The beauty which shines in the building should be still more apparent 

 in the portico, which feature should become, as it were, the very 

 focus of beauty, since, owing to its position in the edifice, it acts like 

 the countenance in the human form, attracting the first glance, and 

 recalling the last look of the observer; and, as the countenance reveals 

 the mind, so this corresponding feature in a building, should bespeak 

 lU dignity and spirit ; it is therefore manifest, that whatever diffi- 

 culties may be overcome by taste in designing the body of a building, 

 those difficulties become infinitely greater in the compos-ition of its 

 portico. Owing to the few parts of this architectural feature, and 

 their striking character, it is necessary that the laws of harmony be 

 rigidly observed ; any, nay the least, infringement of those laws, leads 

 in this iujtance to some glaring deformity. One must not, therefore, 

 tamper with so difficult a subject, but recognise it as the legitimate 

 patrimony of matured skill, as a feature which, whilst it spurns all 

 crude attempts, afibrds, on the contrary, the finest opportun ty for the 

 display of real talent. 



Besides, what charms in the associations, that sparkle from this gem 

 of architecture ! The sacred pageants of Greece and Rome, when 

 seen arrayed within its precincts, appear in all their glory ; from be- 

 neath the portico's grateful shelter, flowed with full etfect the sources 

 of ancient learning; from beneath its roof a Plato and a TuUy spoke, 

 and sages to debate, and crowds, thirsting for knowledge, flocked to 

 the portico's genial shade; — seen, therefore, through the hallowed 

 medium of the past, the portico rises to our view invested with all the 

 charms of association, as the bewitching scenery which surrounded 

 the ancient founts of wisdom. 



Pantheon at Rome. 



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With so much, then, to give it effect, it is not too much to say that 

 this feature demands the architect's chiefest care, and that every 

 eftbrt should be made to invest it with its w^onted power, so that it 

 may either strike with awe, attract through its richness and gran- 

 deur, be rendered imposing through dignified simplicity, or made 

 captivating by its grace. Milizia, in speaking of the portico of the 

 Pantlieon, perhaps the finest specimen of the kind which has ever 

 been erected, makes the following observations: — 



" This portico," says that admirable critic, " all dingy as it is through 

 the lapse of ages, its ornaments mutilated, the whole of the upper 

 portion dismantled of its former richness, still expands the mind. It 

 is simplicity itself." This last observation, upon a work which is abun- 

 dantly rich, of the Corinthian order, and where the sculptor's mimic 

 art appears to rival nature in the production of the luxuriant acanthus, 

 recalls to mind the poet's invocation to that powerful attribute, when, 

 addressing himself to simplicity, he says, 



" Though taite. though genius bless 

 Tu some divine excess, 



Faint's the cold work till thou inspire the whole ; 

 M'hat each, what all supply, 

 May court, may charm the eye, 

 Thou, only thou, canst raise the meeting soul." 



"A few columns merely, and a pediment, constitute this imposing 

 mass, nothing more satisfactory than the straight forward character of 

 its plan, so well adapted to the purpose for which it is designed, a 



Yo. 3(3.— Vol. III. — September, 1340. 



passage to an entrance." It may here be observed, that viewed rela- 

 tively to their position, the two internal ranges of columns gain great 

 value in our estimation ; they guide the visitor at once to the entrance 

 of the sanctuary, who, but for them, might stray to the right or to the 

 left of the immense area of the portico, and thus lose that high enjoy- 

 ment now produced by the quick succession of strong and varied sen- 

 sations, resulting from the contemplation of scenery at once so im- 

 posing and contrasting. It were in vain to attempt to describe the 

 sensations produced by a visit to the Pantheon; those who have en- 

 joyed so great a treat, will agree that such rapture must be experi- 

 enced to be understood ; such themes soar above mere prose, and, in 

 attempting them, we feel that we are trenching upon the domain of 

 the poet. The Roman critic continues thus ; " the eye dwells with 

 rapture on the justness of proportion of the various parts, those parts 

 either taken separately, or in conjunction with one another. Strength, 

 richness, grandeur, all the elements which constitute the beautiful, are 

 here combined. Hence that possession which it takes of the mind! 

 hence the universal admiration which it has ever excited among the 

 intelligent! How inferior in their eftect to this grand original are the 

 porticoes of the Vatican, and many others attached to the basilicas of 

 Rome, notwithstanding their artificial arrangement of plan, and prodi- 

 gious efibrts made to enrich them; but these lack the judgment 

 which has presided over the distribution of the parts of the Pantheon 

 portico. In this work the columns, though gigantic, appear of a 

 proper size, whereas those of the Vatican always appear enormous; 

 but in the Pantheon they are sensibly applied, inasmuch as they are 

 admirably adapted to their office ; to suppose the removal of one, 

 would be annihilation to the whole design ; whereas to remove almost 

 all from many of our buildings (still referring to Rome), would be to 

 rid these for the most part of some extravagant superfluity : " thus far 

 our author. Nothing can prove more satisfactorily the merits of this 

 portico, than the circumstance of the great Michael Angelo judging 

 that no design could be conceived more appropriate for an approach 

 to the first temple of modern times, and keenly must the lover of art 

 regret that such an authority as the opinion of that great man should 

 have been made to yield to the puerile conceit of a Carlo Maderno. 



St. Genevieve at Paris. 



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While upon this subject, a feeling of regret also naturally suggests 

 itself, that the architect of the Church of Ste. Genevii-ve at Paris, 

 bearing, as he seems to have done, this fine portico in his mind, should 

 most unaccountably have disdained to avail himself of its real merits, 

 and by substituting a complicated arrangement of columns, thrown 

 away the opportunity of producing a sublime etfect, by aiming at the 

 simplicity of this exquisite model. Nor can w^e compliment the 

 architects (three in number) to the Capitol at Washington, upon the 

 use which they have made of this grand Roman original; by what 

 those architects have added and retrenched, they have come infinitely 



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short of the effect wdiich they might have produced. The additional 

 side columns by apparently bolstering up the portico, sadly impair its 

 vigorous aspect, and quite destroy the effect of its profile. Whenever 

 such adjuncts are deemed necessary, it is preferable to make use of a 

 sqnare ante instead of a column to unite them with that portion which 

 is more properly the j^ortico ; this not only gives solidity where it is 

 wanted, but causes an agreeable separation of the side columns from 

 the main feature, giving to the eye an opportiyjity of dwelling upon 



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