238 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



[August, 



its illustrious arcliitect, whom tlie Quarterlij Review* calls " the pride and 

 honour of English art," to the ranl< of an equally bold and original imi- 

 tator, as Milton is of Homer and of Virgd ; exhibiiing in all its parts the 

 most indubitable marks of real genius — "that quality, without which," 

 says Dr. Johnson, "judgment is cuUI, and knowledge is inert; that energy, 

 which collects, combines, amplifies, and animates." 



* For October, 1»22. 

 CTo be contintted.J 



GLANCE AT SOME OF THE ATTRIBUTES OF 

 ARCHITECTURE. 



IJy Frederick Lush. 

 No. II. 



" Greek art had her infancy, but the Gracea rock«d the cradle, and Love taught her to 

 speak." — FuSELi. 



Simplicity, Sfc. — We cannot arrive at conclnsions respecting the first 

 principles of art, without making the human mind, as being the source of 

 all beauty, the groundwork of our invesligatinns. All the qualities that 

 contribute, or are essential, to artistic beauty, will be found to make up 

 the requirements of a perfect miud ; and among these qualities, that wiiicli 

 bears a very striking analogy to it, is simplicity. 



Simplicity and unity of composition may be compared to that power of 

 generalization which selects from dissimilar objects, parts of a like nature 

 or property, and then includes them under one genus or kind. It was a 

 principle of the Greeks, which was founded on the idea they formed of 

 perfect nature, " to combine into one grand expression of feeling a whole 

 series of ideas, and by excluding everything heterogeneous, to combine all 

 homogeneous elements into a perfect and harmonious unity" (Schlege!*.) 

 Amidst, therefore, the many and varied elements of an art, whose grand 

 object is to make a strong impression on the senses, no matter that is 

 irrelevant must be allowed — nothing that would produce confusion ; so 

 that the eye may repose upon it without the least distraction : the various 

 ingredients being so balanced and regulated, that not one of them shall act 

 prejudicially to the rest by any undue proportion ; but that each combine, 

 to the utmost of its power, in such perfect unison and co-operation, as to 

 conduce towards but one end, and announce in its efiect the one great 

 controlling mind that directed and presided over it. This is so necessary, 

 that even where the style of architecture is elaborate and intricate, it must 

 still preserve a marked unity and consistency of purpose, for without it 

 we may not be enabled to see and embrace clearly the complication and 

 web of the whole. In simplicity, a degree of variety and contrast must 

 be joined to it, lest it should be too monotonous and beiray a poverty of 

 imagination ; variety also, uncomposed and without some simplicity and 

 consistency in its parts, would withdraw the attention from it on account 

 of the appearance of confusion. 



Those ancient temples, which in their plan and general forms were 

 parallelograms, and olTered a most striking similarity and uniformity of 

 parts, suggested to the spectator ideas of infinity, nolhwilhstanding their 

 extreme regularity. But the gratification which the mind receives from 

 objects, depends upon the nature of the exercise they afford to the visual 

 faculty ; and circular forms, in cons'quence of bringing all the muscles 

 that move the eye into play, causing an equable share of labour, are found 

 to yield more delightful sensations than those produced by objects bounded 

 only by straight lines. Now, a knowledge of the effeit of geometrical 

 figures was known to the Greeks ; and we have a fine instance of their 

 appreciation of the circle, in the Choragic monument of Lysicrates. In 

 this rotund temple, as in many others, we may notice that the figures in 

 succession in the bas reliefs on the frieze, seem to the eye to have no 

 limitation, but as it advances and one portion appears, another disappears ; 

 so that alihough the whole is most simple and uniform in itself, and may 

 be easily embraced at a glance, yet at the same time it seems endless and 

 infinite. This beautiful idea was imitateil by the Romans, hut its elegance 

 and grace was lost in vaslness of dimensions ; for grandeur emanated 

 from them as beauty did from the Greeks, and proofs of their masterly 



* Lectures on Dramatic Art and Literature. 



control over the arch and vault, which they were ever ambitious to dis- 

 play, remain to us in their Aqueducts, in their Pantheon, and Caslle of 

 St. Angelo. So the classical mind of Bramante, soaring and expanding 

 iUelf in the contemplation of circles, in conceiving a design for St. Peter's, 

 suggested " for the naves, an adaptation of the arrangement of the great 

 arches in the ancient edifice called the Temple of Peace; and for the 

 conjunction of the four naves, the construction and form of the Pantheon:" 

 thus uniting and harmonizing in one stupendous structure the proportions 

 of two of the grandest edifices of antiquity. 



Simplicity is the leading characteristic of Grecian architecture. The 

 form of their temples was the simplest, although in its details the most 

 elegant, and in its dimensions the grandest, that could be conceived — 

 gracing the sites on which they were erected ; for there seemed to exist 

 among the architects a sort of anxiety lest they should in the smallest 

 degree disfigure nature. The orators and philosophers of the day beheld 

 in them the image and reflection of sincerity and truth ; aud the aspiring 

 columns, no less than the graceful superstructure, were channels for con- 

 ducting minds habitually soaring, to the contemplation of supernatural 

 beauty. At the glorious epoch of the Parthenon, the porticoes being the 

 favourite places of resort, a building would scarcely have been tolerated 

 that was not stamped with that calm repose, that dignified simplicity, 

 which most assimilated with the feelings of the Athenians. Hence the 

 sedate grandeur of expression which breathed from their walls, which led 

 the thoughts upward, and was eloquent not only with the authoritative 

 voice of the senate, but with the stern wisdom yet mild tranquility of the 

 deity to whom it was consecrated. The presiding goddess of Athens was 

 the muse that aided them, the fount whence they drew their inspira- 

 tion. 



The Greeks prided themselves upon the invention and perfection of 

 their columns, and since they made them perform such an important part 

 in their edifices, they took care to set off their contours and proportions to 

 the best possible advantage. "With what success they did so, we have 

 proofs in the impressions conveyed to us by some of the porticoes of their 

 temples — as that of Minerva, where the utmost relief and elfect are given 

 to these features, by the majestic shade which is flung into its interco- 

 lumniations. Here, it may be remarked, the chiar 'oscuro is not broken 

 up and minute, but the light and shade of the structure presents broad 

 and simple masses. 



The most cherished objects which the sculptor could commemorate on 

 their temples were the deeds of conquerors and heroes ; but then there 

 was demanded on his part a high command of talent, that such things 

 should be worthily represented ; and that, by a scientific and beautiful 

 execution, by force of expression and simplicity of character, they should 

 be at the same time a powerful auxiliary to the architecture. Viewing 

 sculpture in the days of Phidias, we cannot but be struck with its ad- 

 mirable harmony to the grand and simple character of the temple. The 

 high embellishment and importance which it received from the introduc- 

 tion of sculpture, is particularly observable at that epoch ; and it is only 

 by an attentive examination of the bold and decided execution of the 

 ancient relievi, so adapted in their effects of chiar 'oscuro to their elevated 

 positions, that we can appreciate the excellency of the principles which 

 regulated their introduction into the buildings — principles often inculcated 

 and taught by the philosophers, and founded on a profound knowledge of 

 optics and perspective. 



In the materials and means employed, as well as in the forms they se- 

 lected, we see how wisely they sought aud secured simplicity ; they 

 adopted just so much as the peculiar nature of circumstances prompted, 

 and no more; they produced the greatest strength with the fewest mate- 

 rials — -the greatest eirect with the simplest means ; they brought out the 

 most beautiful features into the strongest relief; they mingled the utile 

 cum dulci ; the elongation of lines and the relation of spaces satisfied the 

 mathematician, — the delicacy of the curve delighted the poet; the uni- 

 formity and succession of parts, the huge masses of the surfaces, the long 

 unbroken continuation of the members, all tended to produce sublimity 

 and breadth of manner ; the ornamental portions softened the aspect, and 

 prevented too great a degree of austerity : yet, in the sculpture there was 

 no artificial refinement,* no laborious minuteness, but it contributed to the 

 stateliness of the pile ; and even when the Greeks thought it necessary, 

 under their glowing sky, to heighten the effect of the whole by the addi- 

 < The Elgin tiarblea. 



