4:6 SCIENCE OF COMMON THINGS. 



Bad taste in architecture. Columns. Capitals. 



: . .. . ' . . * 



373 What is said to have been the model of the aisle of a Gothic cathe- 

 dral? 



A group of tall trees, meeting at tlie top with, inter- 

 woven branches. 



374 Ought architecture to be considered as a fine or a useful art f 



As a useful art. 



It is degrading the fine arts to make them entirely subservient to 

 utility. It is out of taste to make a statue of Apollo hold a candle, or a 

 line painting stand as a fireboard. Our houses are for use, and architec- 

 ture is therefore one of the useful arts. In building, we should plan the 

 inside first, and then the outside to cover it. 



375 Why is it bad taste to construct a dwelling-house in the form of a 

 Grecian temple f 



Because a Grecian temple was intended for external 

 worship, not as a habitation or a place of meeting. 



370 Had the Goths, who plundered Rome, anything to do with the 

 invention of Gothic architecture f 



No; the name was introduced abont two hundred 

 years ago as a term of reproach, to stigmatize the 

 edifices of the Middle Ages, which departed from the 

 purity of the antique models. 



377 What is the facade of a building t 



Its front. 



278 What is a pedestal f 



The lower part or base of the column ; a continued 

 base, on which a range of columns is erected, is called 

 a stylobate. 



379 What is the base of a column f 



The lower part, where it is distinct from the shaft. 



380 What is the shaft f 



The middle or longest part of the column. 



381 What is the capital f 



The upper or ornamental part resting on the shaft. 

 The height of a column is measured in diameters of 

 the column itself, always taken at the base. 



383 What is the plinth f 



This term is applied to the lower part of the pedestal, 

 or to any square projecting basis, such as those at the 



