October , 1917 
45 
As a detail of a dignified 
porch or terrace the bal¬ 
ustrade fits in exactly. Its 
size and designs, of course, 
will be governed by the 
adjacent architecture 
The balustrade is a de¬ 
vice equally suitable to 
the ground or to the 
skyline. It lends itself 
to silhouetting 
An Italian atmosphere is 
Immediately established by 
the balustrade run along 
the rock ledge in the res¬ 
idence to the left 
wealth of turf, fair Albion 
has been glad enough to 
borrow from Italia her 
garden ornament, lest those 
perfect greenswards, sung 
by poet and prose-writer 
alike, had never, through 
contrast, disclosed their 
fullest beauty to sympa¬ 
thetic eyes. 
And like England and 
France, American garden- 
makers have been glad to 
study the terrace structure 
of old Italian gardens, the walls of 
masonry with balustraded fronts, 
etc. In describing the garden of 
Moor Park, which he called “The 
perfectest figure of a Garden I ever 
saw,” Temple laid stress on the 
lovely balustraded terraces,—“Ter- 
rasses covered with Lead and fenced 
with Balusters.” 
Origin of Balusters 
Perhaps no single feature in the 
ornament of garden architecture is 
more useful, interesting and “un¬ 
written” about than that of the bal¬ 
ustrade. The accompanying illus¬ 
trations at once suggest the beauty 
of such a bit of garden architecture. 
The word baluster (often banister) 
is derived from the Latin balaus- 
trium, the flower of the Pomegranate, 
from the form of which the original 
outline detail of the design of the 
pear-shaped swelling of the lower 
end of the pillar or shaft bearing 
the name was taken. Balustrade, 
of course, was the name derived 
from the balusters placed in equi¬ 
distant range. It seems to me that 
the balustrade came into modern 
decoration as a need, not simply as 
an invention. This, I think, will 
impress itself on one who studies, 
for instance, the paintings by old 
masters. Giovanni Bellini in his 
“Souls in Paradise” (Uffizi Gal¬ 
lery, Florence) seemed to feel the 
need of the balustrade idea, against 
the landscape. But it had not de¬ 
veloped with him beyond the indi¬ 
cation of the equidistant square 
shafts there shown, as it came to be 
developed in the work of the Vene¬ 
tian painter, Paul Veronese. The 
study of early modern art at once 
discloses how truly the balustrade 
was a structural decorative need, 
not merely a fancy. Jan Gossaert 
was glad enough to bring the balus¬ 
trade idea back to Flanders from 
Italy, while Albrecht Altdorfer of 
Nuremberg nearly evolved the idea 
of the baluster in the pillared ter¬ 
race parapet depicted in 
one of his famous canvases, 
“Susanna In the Bath.” 
As Landscape Features 
Stress is here laid on the 
baluster as a decorative 
motif with the old masters, 
as it is of importance to 
study all the arts compara¬ 
tively to the fullest enjoy- 
(Continued on page 70) 
