as round, and that the inconvenience attendant upon square angles may have led the earliest builders to round off the corners, and gradually to bring them to a circular plan. Isolated pillars are rarely found among the examples left us by the ancients; the little temple at Trevi furnishes, indeed, an example, but not of the best period of the art. The principal points to be attended to in their use are their projection, diminution, the mode of uniting the entablature over them with that of their columns, and their flutings and capitals. 2673. In respect of the projection of pilasters, Perrault says they should project one half, and not exceed that by more than a sixth, as in the frontispiece of Nero, unless circumstances require a different projection. The pilasters of the Pantheon project only a tenth part of their width; and sometimes, as in the forum of Nerva, they are only a fourteenth part. But when pilasters are to receive the imposts of arches against their sides, they are made to project a fourth part of their diameter; and this is a convenient proportion, because in the Corinthian order the capital is not so much disfigured. Hence, when pilasters are made to form re-entering angles, they should project more than half their diameter. Many and various opinions have been formed on the propriety of diminishing pilasters. Perrault, with whom we incline to agree, thinks that when one face only projects, pilasters should not be diminished. Those at the flanks of the portico of the Pantheon are without diminution. But when pilasters are on the same line as columns, we want to lay the entablature from one to the other without any projection, in which case the pilaster must be diminished in the same degree as the column itself, speaking of the front face, leaving the sides undiminished, as in the temple of Antoninus and Faustina. When the pilaster has two of its faces projecting from the wall, being on the angle, and one of those faces answers to a column, such face is diminished similarly to the column, as in the portico of Septimius, where the face not corresponding to the column receives no diminution. There are, however, ancient examples where no diminution is practised, as in the interior of the Pantheon, where it is so small as not to be very apparent, being much less than that of the column, as is also the case in the temple of Mars Ultor, and in the arch of Constantine. In these cases, the custom of the ancients is sometimes to place the architrave plumb over the column, which brings it within the line of the pilaster. This may be seen in the temple of Mars Ultor, in the interior of the Pantheon, and in the portico of Septimius. Sometimes this excess is divided into two parts, one whereof goes to the excess of projection of the architrave above the column, and the other half to the deficiency of extent above the pilaster, as in the forum of Nerva. The whole matter is a problem of difficult solution, which Chambers has avoided, but which, with reference to the examples we have cited, will not be attended with difficulty to the student in his practice. 2674. We have above seen that pilasters, when used with columns, are subject to the form and conditions of the latter. As to their flutings we are left more at liberty. In the portico of the Pantheon we find the pilasters fluted and the columns plain. This, however, may have been caused by the difficulty of fluting the latter, which are of granite, whilst the pilasters are of marble. On the other hand, we sometimes find the columns fluted and the pilasters plain, as in the temple of Mars Ultor, and the portico of Septimius Severus. Generally, too, it may be observed that when pilasters project less than half their diameter, their return faces are not fluted. In respect of the number of the flutes, if the examples of the ancients were any guide, there could have been no fixed rule; for in the portico of the Pantheon, the arch of Septimius Severus, and that of Constantine, seven flutes only are cut on the pilasters, whilst the flutes of the pilasters in the interior of the Pantheon are nine in number. This, however, is to be observed, that the flutes must always be of an odd number, except in re-entering pilasters, wherein four are placed instead of three and a half, and five instead of four and a half, when the whole pilaster would have nine. This is done to prevent the ill effect which would be produced in the capital by the bad falling of the leaves over the flutes. 2675. We shall hereafter give from Chambers some representations of pilaster capitals, which, except as regards their width, resemble those of the order they accompany. The practice of the ancients in this respect was very varied. Among the Greeks the form of the pilaster capital was altogether different from that of the column, seeming to have no relationship to it whatever; but on this point the student must consult the works on Grecian antiquities, an example whereof will be found in fig. 883. 2676. A pilaster may be supposed to represent a column and to take its place under many circumstances; and, notwithstanding all that was said on the subject by the Abbé Laugier, many years ago, against the employment of pilasters altogether, we are decidedly of opinion that they are often useful and important accessories in a building. It would be difficult to enumerate every situation wherein it is expedient to use pilasters rather than insulated or engaged columns. In internal apartments, where the space is restricted, a column appears heavy and occupies too much room. The materials, morever, which can be obtained, often restrict the architect to the use of pilasters, over which the projections of the entablature are not so great; indeed, as the author in the Encyclopedie Methodique ob serves, a pilaster may be considered as a column in bas-relief, and is thus, from the diminished quantity of labour and material in it, simpler and more economical in application. That in houses and palaces of the second class the decoration by pilasters is of great service may be amply shown by reference to the works of Bramante, San Gallo, Palladio, and the other great masters of Italy, no less than in this country to those of Jones, Wren, and Vanbrugh. 2677. In profiling the capitals of Tuscan and Doric pilasters there can of course arise no difficulty; they follow the profiles of those over the columns themselves. In the capitals, however, of the other orders, some difficulties occur: these are thus noticed by Chambers. "In the antique Ionic capital, the extraordinary projection of the ovolo makes it necessary either to bend it inwards considerably towards the extremities, that it may pass behind the volutes, or, instead of keeping the volutes flat in front, as they commonly are in the antique, to twist them outwards till they give room for the passage of the ovolo. Le Clerc " (Traité d'Architecture) "thinks the latter of these expedients the best, and that the artifice may not be too striking, the projection of the ovolo may be considerably diminished, as in the annexed design" (fig. 923.), "which, as the moulding can be seen in front only, will 2678. "The same difficulty subsists with re- DION Fig. 923. Fig. 924. 2679. "What has been said with regard to the passage of the ovolo behind the volutes in the Ionic order is likewise to be remembered in the Composite; and in the Corinthian the lip or edge of the vase or basket may be bent a little inwards towards its extremities, by which means it will easily pass behind the volutes. The leaves in the Corinthian and Composite capitals must not project beyond the top of the shaft, as they do at San Carlo in the Corso at Rome, and at the Banqueting House, Whitehall; but the diameter of the capital must be exactly the same as that of the top of the shaft. And to make out the thickness of the small bottom leaves, their edges may be bent a trifle outwards, and the large angular leaves may be directed inwards in their approach towards them, as in the annexed design" (fig. 925.), " and as they are executed in the church of the Roman college at Rome. When the small leaves have a considerable thickness, though the diameter of the capital is exactly the same as that of the shaft, in each front of the Composite or Corinthian pilaster capital, there must be two small leaves with one entire and two half large ones. They must be either of olive, acanthus, parsley, or laurel, massed, divided, and wrought, in the same manner as those of the columns are, the only difference being that they will be somewhat broader." Fig. 925. 2680. It is desirable to avoid the use of pilasters at inward angles penetrating each other, because of the irregularity such practice produces in the entablatures and capitals. One break is quite as much as should be ever tolerated, though in many of the churches in Rome they are multiplied with great profusion of mutilated capitals and entablatures; "than which," observes Chambers," nothing can be more confused or disagreeable." 2681. Neither should columns be allowed to penetrate each other, as they do in the court of the Louvre, inasmuch as the same irregularity is induced by it as we have above noticed in the case of pilasters. SECT. XV. CARYATIDES AND PERSIANS. 2682. The origin of earyatides we have in the First Book (165, et seq.) so far as regards our own opinions, explained, and in that respect we shall not trouble the reader. Our object in this section is merely to offer some observations on the use of them in modern practice. The figures denominated Persians, Atlantes, and the like, are in the same category, and we shall not therefore stop to inquire into their respective merits; indeed, that has already been sufficiently done in the book above alluded to. The writer of the article in the Encyclopedie Methodique has, we think, thrown away a vast deal of elegant writing on the subject of caryatides; and using, as we have done, to some extent, that extraordinary work, we think it necessary to say that we cannot recommend anything belonging to that article to the notice of the reader, except what is contained in the latter part of it, and with that we do not altogether agree. 2683. The object, or apparent object, in the use of caryatides is for the purpose of support. There is no case in which this cannot be better accomplished by a solid support, such as a column, the use of the attic order, or some other equivalent means. But the variety in quest of which the eye is always in search, and the picturesque effect which may be induced by the employment of caryatides, leads often to their necessary employment. The plain truth is, that they are admissible only as objects necessary for an extreme degree of decoration, and otherwise employed are not to be tolerated. There can, as we imagine, be no doubt that the most successful application of these figures as supports was by Jean Gougeon in the Louvre; as was the most unfortunate in the use of them in a church in the New Road, which at the time of its erection was much lauded, but which we hope will never be imitated by any British architect. 2684. As to the use of what are called Persians or male figures, originally in Persian dresses, to designate, as Vitruvius tells us, the victory over their country by the Greeks, the observations above made equally apply, and in the present day their application will not bear a moment's suspense in consideration. 2685. We have been much amused with the gravity wherewith Sir William Chambers, not with his usual sound sense, treats the claims of the personages whose merits we are discussing he says, "Male figures may be introduced with propriety in arsenals or galleries of armour, in guard-rooms and other military places, where they should represent the figures of captives, or else of martial virtues; such as strength, valour, wisdom, prudence, fortitude, and the like." He writes more like himself when he says, "There are few nobler thoughts in the remains of antiquity than Inigo Jones's court" (in the design for the great palace at Whitehall), "the effect of which, if properly executed, would have been surprising and great in the highest degree." (See fig. 207.) 2686. What is called a terminus, which is, in fact, nothing more than a portion of an inverted obelisk, we shall not observe upon further than to say that it is a form, as applied to architecture, held in abhorrence. For the purpose, when detached and isolated, of supporting busts in gardens, it may perhaps be occasionally tolerated: further we have nothing to say in its favour. Those who seek for additional instruction on what are called termini, may find some account of them, as the boundary posts of land among the Romans, in books relating to the antiquities of that people. 2687. We shall now proceed to submit some examples of caryatides for the use of those whose designs require their employment. Fig. 926. is from a model of Michael Angelo do in 2 ave abe r as regani Our obje practice pory, and we h already bett in the Es zoa the s dinary wei that arte and with de Buonarotti, and is extracted from the Treatise on Civil Architecture, by Sir William 2688. Figs. 927. and 928. are also designs by Michael Angelo, which, though not designed for a building, are well adapted for the purpose under certain conditions. 2689. Fig. 929. is the design of Andrea Biffi, a sculptor of Milan, in the cathedral of which city it is one of the figures surrounding the choir. The statue possesses mucn grace, and was admirably suited to the edifice wherein it was employed. 2690. Fig. 930. comes from Holland, having been executed by Artus Quellinus in the judgment-hall of the Stadthouse at Amsterdam. Fig. 930. Fig. 931. Fig. 932 Fig. 933, Fig. 934. 2691. Fig. 931. is by Michael Angelo, and is at the Villa Ludovisi at Rome. 2692. Fig, 932. is from the design by the last-named master for the monument of Pope Julius, whereof we have had occasion already to make mention in the First Book of this work. (335.) 2693. Fig. 933. is a representation of one of the celebrated caryatides by Jean Gougeon in the Swiss guard-room of the old Louvre at Paris, and does not deserve less admiration than it has received. The scale on which this and the preceding figures are given does not admit of so good a representation as we could wish. 2694. Fig. 934. is from the arch of the goldsmiths at Rome, being thereon in basso rilievo, but considered by Chambers as well as ourselves a suitable hint for carrying out the purpose of this section. SECT. XVI. BALUSTRADES AND BALUSTERS. 2695. A baluster is a species of column used as an ornamental railing in front of windows, or in arcades, or on the summit of a building, whose professed object is the protection of its inhabitants from accidents: analogously, too, it consists of a capital, shaft and base. 2696. The baluster is not found in the works of the ancients, and we believe it owed its introduction in architecture to the restorers of the arts in Italy, in which country a vast variety of examples are to be found. They made their first appearance in the form of stunted columns, not unfrequently surmounted by a clumsily-shaped Ionic capital. The term is said to have had its rise (with what truth we cannot pronounce) from the Latin balaustium, or the Greek Baλavorov, the flower of the wild pomegranate, to which in form the architectural baluster is said by some to bear a resemblance. The writer in the Encyclopedie Methodique has taken the opportunity, in the article "Balustre," of launching his anathema against the use of it, but we by no means agree with him; and instead of calling it, as he does, " une invention mesquine," we incline to think that it was almost the only invention of the modern architects that deserves our admiration. It is true that the form has been abused in every possible shape; but we are not, in art more than in morals, to arrive at the conclusion that anything is bad because it has been abused and misapplied. Such, then, being the case, we shall proceed in a serious vein to consider its proportions, founded on the best examples that have come to our hands. We must first premise with J. F. Blondel, that balusters and balustrades, which last are a series of the first, should in. form and arrangement partake of the character of the edifice. They have even been in their species so subdivided as to be arranged under as many classifications as the orders themselves, a distinct sort having been assigned for employment with each order. We are not quite certain that such an arrangement is necessary, but are rather inclined to think it fanciful; though we are quite willing to allow that where the lighter orders are employed, the balustrades to be used over them are susceptible of a more minute and lighter subdivision of their parts. 2697. The general rules to be observed in the use of the balustrade are, that its balusters be of an odd number, and that the distance between them should be equal to half their larger diameter, from which will result an equality between the open and solid spaces. Blondel disapproves of a half baluster on the flanks of a subdivision of a balustrade: in this we dissent from him, and would always recommend its adoption if possible. In respect of the detailed proportions of the balusters themselves, we are to recollect that the subdivisions are of the capital, the shaft or vase of the baluster, and its base. For proportioning these to one another, Chambers (and we think the proportions he uses not inelegant) divides the whole given height into thirteen equal parts, whereof the height of the baluster is eight, that of the base three, and of the cornice or rail two. If the baluster is required to be less, he divides the height into fourteen parts, giving eight to the baluster, four to the base, and two to the rail. He calls one of these parts a module for the measurement of the rest, and that measure we think convenient for adoption in this work. The module he divides into nine parts. 2698. Balusters intended for real use in a building, as those employed on steps or stairs, or before windows, or to enclose terraces, should not be less than three feet in height, nor more than three feet six inches; that is, sufficiently high to give security to the persons using them but when merely used as ornamental appendages, as in crowning a building, they should bear some proportion to the parts of the building. Chambers says that their height never ought to exceed four fifths of the height of the entablature on which they are placed, nor should it ever be less than two thirds, without counting the zoccolo or plinth. the height of which must be sufficient to leave the whole balustrade exposed to view from the best point of sight for viewing the building. We can scarcely admit these rules to pass without noting the examples in Palladio's works, which give a much greater latitude for variety. When balusters fill in between the pedestals, as in the façade of the Palace Chiericato at Vicenza, the balustrade's height is of course regulated by that of the pedestal itself; but in the court of the Porti palace the crowning balustrade is not higher than the cornice of the entablature on which it stands. The same proportion is observed in the atrium of the Carità at Venice. In the Valmarana palace the height of the balustrade is equal to that of the entablature of the small order. It is true that in a few instances this master made the height of the balustrade equal to that of the whole entablature, and Inigo Jones has in some instances followed his example; but this was not the general practice either of the one or the other. 2699. We have already said that the baluster generally varies in form, so as to be appropriate to the order over which it is used. It is moreover to be observed that the baluster is susceptible of a pleasing variety of its form by making it square instead of circular on the plan, whereof examples are given in figs. 938, 939, and 940. ; but when the situation requires an expression of solidity, almost all the circular examples we submit to the reader may be changed from a circular to a square form on the plan, and thus as required we may obtain the character suitable to their respective situations. These changes, from one to another form in details of this description, are in their adoption much more the index to the capacity and genius of the architect than the restless and capricious longing after variety recently exhibited in some of the latest works produced in the city of London, works which reflect no credit on the age in which we live. In fig. 935. is given a baluster IT I suitable to the Tuscan order; and using the module of nine parts above mentioned, the following is a table of its dimensions : |