A R C H I T 
adorned with well-executed ornaments, fuel) ceilings have 
a good effefl. The ornaments and mouldings do not re¬ 
quire a bold relief; but, being near the eye, they mu ft be 
finiffied with tafte and neatnefs. The principal effefl of 
all Hat ceiling's depends very much upon the richnels and 
beauty of the cornice. 
Coved ceilings are more expenfive ; but they are like - 
wife more beautiful. They are ufed promifcuoufly in 
large and fmall rooms, and occupy from one-fifth to one- 
third of the height of the room. If the room be low in 
proportion to its breadth, the cove muft likewife be low ; 
and, when it is high, the cove muft be fo likewife: by 
which means the excefs of the height will be rendered lef's 
perceptible. But, where the architect is at liberty to pro¬ 
portion the height of the room to its fuperficial dimenfions, 
the moft eligible proportion for the cove is one-fourth of 
the whole height. The figure of the cove is commonly 
either a quadrant of a circle or of an ellipfis, taking its 
rife a little above the cornice, and finifhing at the border 
round the great pannel in the centre. The border projefts 
fomewhat beyond the coves on the outlide; and, on the 
lide towards the pannel, it is generally made of fufficient 
depth to admit the ornaments of an architrave. In Bri¬ 
tain, circular rooms are not much in ufe; but they are 
very beautiful. Their height muft be the fame with that 
of fquare rooms; their ceilings may be flat; but they are 
handfomer when coved, or of a concave form. 
When the profiles of rooms are gilt, the ceilings ought 
likewife to be gilt. The ufual method is to gild all the 
ornaments, and to leave the grounds white, pearl colour, 
light blue, or of any other tint proper to fet off the gild¬ 
ing to advantage. Hiftorical and other paintings are often 
introduced with good effeft in the centre and angular com¬ 
partments of large ceilings ; and fince the rapid and ele¬ 
gant improvements in plafter and ftucco have been intro¬ 
duced, a late invention of painted filk and fattin in various 
ornaments, from antiques, have likewife been adopted, to 
adorn the profiles or walls of rooms. Thefe are inclofed 
in pannels, pilafters, and tablets, according to their defti- 
nation; and, when they have fuitable gilt mouldings, they 
produce a very gay and fplendid effeft. 
The annexed Plate exhibits a defign for a Flat Ceiling 
in the modern tafte, which is adapted to any withdrawing, 
dining, or other principal, room in genteel houfes. 
Of STAIRCASES. 
Staircafes are the means of afeending to the different 
ftories of a building, and ought to be fo conftrucled as to 
make the afeent fafe, agreeable, and eafy. To fix on a 
proper and advantageous fituation for a ftaircafe is often 
attended with difficulty ; but without which the internal 
convenience and beauty of a houfe will be much injured. 
Palladio is of opinion, that the entrance to a ftaircafe ought 
to be fituated, fo as the principal parts of a building may 
be feen before we afeend the fteps: and upon this princi¬ 
ple it is obfervable, that a more eafy accefs is gained to the 
principal apartments on the ground-floor. 
To render flairs eafy of afeent, the height of a ftep ought 
not to exceed feven inches, nor in any cafe be lefs than 
four; but fix inches is a general height. The breadth of 
the fteps ffiould not be lefs than twelve inches, if it can 
poffibly be avoided; nor ffiould they ever be more than 
eighteen; and, to render our afeent free from the inter¬ 
ruption of perfons defeending, their length ftiould not ex¬ 
ceed twelve, nor be lefs than four, feet, except in com¬ 
mon and fmall buildings, whofe area will not admit of a 
ftaircafe of more than three feet. That the afeent may 
be both fafe and agreeable, it is requifite alfo to introduce 
fome convenient aperture for light, which ought to be as 
nearly oppofite to our firft entrance to the flairs, as the 
nature of the building will admit of. An equal diftribu- 
tion of light to each flight of flairs ought to be particu¬ 
larly regarded ; for which reafon thefe apertures or win¬ 
dows are commonly placed at the landings or half-fpaces; 
though fometimes the whole is lighted from a dome. 
Vol. II. No. 60. 
E C T U R E. 
109 
Staircafes are of various kinds: fome wind round a 
newel in the middle, and the rifers of the fteps are ftraight, 
and fometimes curved. Others have their plan circular, 
but form a well in the centre. The fame may be obferved 
of thofe whofe plans are elliptical : the moft common, 
however, are thofe whofe plans are a fquare or parallelo¬ 
gram. The ancients paid a fuperftitious regard to an odd 
number in their flights of fteps; as three, five, feven, &c. 
in order that, in their afeent, tliey might begin and fi- 
niffi with the right foot. Palladio, therefore, allows to 
the ftaircafe of a dwelling-houfe eleven or thirteen fteps 
to each flight. When a ftaircafe winds round a newel or 
column, whether its plan be circular or elliptical, the dia¬ 
meter being divided into three equal parts, two are fet 
apart for the fteps, and one for the column. But in cir¬ 
cular or elliptical ftaircafes that are open, or which form 
a well in the middle, the diameter is divided into four equal 
parts ; two for the fteps, and two for the void fpace or well 
in the centre. Modern ftaircafes, however, have often a 
kind of well of a mixed form; ftraight on each fide, and 
circular at the returns of each flight. The openings of 
thefe wells are various in width, but feldom exceed eigh¬ 
teen or twenty inches. 
To moft ftaircafes it is abfolutely neceffary, both for 
convenience and ornament, to have hand-rails; and thefe 
generally begin from the ground by a twifted fcroll, which, 
when fkilftilly managed, produces a very good effeft. To 
explain the conftruftion of thefe, we ftiall offer the fol¬ 
lowing obfervations, as illuftrated by the various figures 
in the annexed Plate. Fig. 1, is the plan of the firft ftep, 
formed with a fcroll to receive the newel-poft and balluf- 
ters of the twifted hand-rail; a is the projecting nofing of 
the ftep ; b the thicknefs of the bracket, and c the firing- 
board. To draw the fcroll proceed thus: Let the fpace 
1,3, in Jig. 2, be confidered as equal to the fpring of the 
fcroll from its centre to the ftraight part of the hand-rail, 
as from O, in the centre of the fcroll, to 1, Jig. 3. Di¬ 
vide 1,3, as inj?g. 2, into three equal parts ; anddrawing 
the line 4, 3, at right angles to 1, 3, make it equal to one 
more of thefe parts. Draw then the diagonal 4, 1 ; 
and, from the centre 4, deferibe the arch 3, 5. Divide 
the arch into twelve equal parts ; and through thefe divi- 
fions, draw the radii till they interfeft the line 3, 1, as at 
2,3,4, &c. which completes the fcale for drawing the 
fcroll. Suppofing that the feveral radial lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 
&c. in Jig. 3, are already drawn, proceed thus: Take front 
Jg. 2, the fpace 3, 2, and place it at fig. 3, from the cen¬ 
tre O to 2. On 2 with the fame opening, fix one foot of 
the compaffes, and with the other ftrike a ffiort curve line, 
as at C, and from 1 with this opening, deferibe another, 
interfering it at C. From the centre C thus found, draw 
the arch 2, 1. Again from fig. 2, take the fpace 3, 3, and 
place it from O on the radial 3 : with this opening, find 
the centre as before, and draw the arch 3, 2, proceeding 
in the fame manner with the reft. By contrafling the line 
4, 3, in fig. 2, it is evident, that a fcroll may be drawn 
more open, or with lefs convolution, a.s\nfig.g\ confe- 
quently, by increafing the length 4, 3, the fcroll will ac¬ 
quire more convolution ; and therefore we may, by thefe 
means, vary the fcroll as we pleafe. In fig. 5, is fliewrt 
the pitch-board or raking of the fteps, in order to deter¬ 
mine the falling mould of the twill. The dotted lines 
drawn from the hand-rail to the pitch-board ftiew its 
width, which is to be kept level, as it wunds about. The 
lines a, 3, b , 2, continued round to D, ffiew how much 
half the width of the rail rifes on the pitch-board, from 
its firft beginning to 3. D exhibits the fame pitch-board ; 
and the method of finding the outlide mould for the twill 
of the hand-rail, after its fides are fo fquared as to be every 
way in a perpendicular direction to its ground-plan. But 
this cannot be done without firft finding the mould for the 
hand-rail, which may be done thus: Confider B in fig. 6, 
as that part of the plan of the hand-rail, comprehended 
between 1, 3, fig. 3. D is the pitch-board, which gives 
the rake or bevel of the hand-rail; which, being divided 
F f into 
