1850.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



147 



imposts, and upon the keystone. It is generally believed to have 

 been built 600 or 700, b. o.'; but tradition gives it as early a date as 



118(j, B.C. 



Porta air Arco, al Volterree. 



Mr. Dennis, in his valuable work on Etruria (speaking of the 

 Porta air Arco), savs " I envy the stranger his first inijiression on 

 approaching this gateway: the loftiness of the arch ; tlie boldness 

 of its span"; the massiveness of its blocks, dwarfing into insigni- 

 ficance the mediaeval masonry by which it is surrounded ; the 

 venerable, yet solid, air of tlie whole ; and, more than all, the 

 dark, featureless, mysterious heads around it, stretching forwards 

 as if eager to proclaim the tale of bygone races and events ; even 

 the site of the gate, on the very verge of the steep, with a glorious 

 map of valley, river, plain, mountain, sea, headland, and island, 

 unrolled beneath, make it one of the most imposing, vet singular, 

 portals conceivable, and fix it indelibly on his memory." 



It is a double gateway ; the total depth about 27^ feet ; the span 

 of the arch is 13 i't. 2 in. ; the height to the keystone, about 21 i feet. 

 There is a groove for a portcullis ; or, as the ancients called it, a 

 cdtaracta, which was suspended by iron chains within the gate. 

 Similar grooves or channels are found in all the old double gate- 

 ways in Italy. According to Mr. Dennis there is a cinerary urn, 

 found in the' cemetery of ancient Volterra-, on which is figured 

 Capaneus struck by lightning while scaling the gate of Thebes.^ 

 The gate represented on the urn is an exact copy of the Porta all' 

 Arco. with the three heads on the imposts and keystone. 



The three principal divinities, Tina, Talna (or Jupiter and 

 Juno), and Minerva were the only deities to whom temples were 

 erected within the city walls, the ground plan of the tem])le 

 was divided into six parts for the length, five being given to the 

 width. The length was then divided into two equal parts, one of 

 which was for the cellse, and the other for the vestibule, or por- 

 tico. The width was divided into ten parts; three parts on each 

 side were given to the smaller cellie, and four to the centre, or 

 principal cella. These cells were sometimes separated by walls, 

 sometimes only by columns, like a nave with side aisles. The 

 principal altar was in the centre cella, answering to the high altar 

 in Catholic churches. The lateral walls of the temple terminated 

 in ant* ; the columns at the angles were placed opposite the anta>, 

 and far enough distant to admit of another in the interval. The 

 two other columns in front were placed in the line of the walls 

 separating the cellfe. 



The following are the proportions of the Tuscan column, as 

 given by Vitruvius. " The columns are to be seven diameters high, 

 their height one-third the width of the temple ; the diminution 

 of the shaft one-fourth of the lower diameter ; the bases half the 



lower diameter ; and divided in height into two parts, the lower 

 for the circular plinth, and the upper for the torus and apophyge. 

 The height of the capital to be also half the lower diameter ; the 

 greatest extent to be equal to twice the height. The plinth, cor- 

 responding to the abacus in other orders, is to be one-third the 

 height of the capital, the echinus one-third, and the hypotrache- 

 lium with its apophyge one-third." The intercolumniation was 

 areostyle ; the architrave was formed of beams of wood, placed one 

 upon another, the height being according to the magnitude of the 

 temple; the beams were joined together by cramps and dovetails ; 

 the mutules projected one-fourth of the height of the column, both 

 beyond the architrave and the lateral walls of the temple. The 

 tyinpanum was constructed either of masonry or timber, and was 

 ornamented with figures in terra-cotta, or gilt bronze. 



The ancient Etruscan column probably differed from the Tuscan 

 order as laid down by Vitruvius, and was most likely merely a 

 modification of the ancient Doric derived from Phoenicia. The 

 Greek Doric had no base, because the columns having to support 

 a heavy stone entablature, the intercohimniations were necessarily 

 narrow, and a base would have been inconvenient : but a base was 

 not an' unnatural addition. In wooden structures it would be a 

 slab placed below the pillar, to preserve it from the damp of the 

 ground; and was introduced into the Tuscan order, where the 

 intercolumniations were wide, the columns only having to support 

 a wooden epistvlium. The Tuscan temple is the simplest and 

 most primitive,' the wooden building being as yet only partly 

 exchanged for stone; the mutules are exact imitations of projecting 

 beam ends, without even an attempt at ornament. There was no 

 frieze in the Tuscan order, and the shafts of the columns were 

 never fluted. The whole structure is low and imposing. 



At All)ano, there are some few fragments of the Tuscan temple 

 of Jupiter Latialis, built by Tarquin the Proud. They were found 

 when the Convent dei Passionanti was built upon its site, and 

 nearly correspond with Vitruvius's description of the order. The 

 sacred architecture of Etruria was more under religious constraint 

 than that of Greece ; but if thev had one undeviating plan and 

 order for their temples, they, like the Egyptians, allowed their 

 fancy full scope in decorati'ng their tombs and other structures. 

 Capitals have been found in various parts of Etruria, bearing some 

 resemblance to the early Norman, with heads intermixed with 

 volutes and foliage. These are not supposed to be very ancient, 

 and may probably be dated near the fall of Etruria. 



Eiruscan Cjpilai, touiid at TusLun-ila. 



The amphitheatre, with its gladiatorial games, originated with 

 the Etruscans. The Romans iiiiitated these sports, and rendered 

 them still more ferocious by an infusion of their own warlike spirit. 

 It was thought beneath the dignity of a lucumo to join in any public 

 trial of strength or skill ; so instead of the refined contests of the 

 Greeks in music, poetry, and athletic exercises, the Etruscans 

 obliged their slaves to combat in the arena, for the amusement of 



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