READINGS IN ART.
The “Readings in Art” are compiled and condensed from “Architecture, Classic and Early Christian,” by T. R. Smith and G. Slater.
P. 262, c. 1.—“Archaic.” Old; ancient; characterized by antiquity or obsoleteness.
“Mausoleums,” mau-so-lēˈums. A tomb or monument. From Mausoleus, king of Caria, to whom Artemisia, his widow, erected a stately monument.
“Votive offerings.” From Latin votum—a vow. A tablet, picture, or anything dedicated by the vow of the worshipers. “Additional embellishments of flowers and votive garlands.”—Motley.
“Doric.” There are several different accounts of the origin of the Doric order. It is stated that Dorus, a king of Achaia, built a temple in Argos, and this was found by chance to be in that manner which we call Doric. Some say the arrangement of the order was that of a primitive log hut. It is so called from Doris. Beside the Doric temples mentioned here there are fragments of this style of architecture to be seen in the temple of Theseus at Athens, in the Propylæa on the Acropolis, in the temple of Zeus at Olympia, and in various other localities in Greece and southern Italy. The form of the Doric building was the same as in the Ionic and Corinthian.
“Ictinus,” ic-tiˈnus. He was the architect of several Doric temples; the Parthenon, the temple of Apollo at Phigalia, and the one at Eleusis. No details of his life are known.
“Rock.” This rock is the Acropolis.
“Entablature,” “cella,” “pediment.” See notes in The Chautauquan for November.
“Flat pitch.” A roof that has less than the usual elevation in the center.
P. 262, c. 2.—“Stylobate,” styˈlo-bāte. Literally a basement to a column. It is synonymous with pedestal, but is applied to an uninterrupted and unbroken base, while pedestal is an insulated support.
“Entasis,” ĕnˈta-sĭs. A gentle, almost imperceptible swelling of the shaft of a column.
“Ionic.” This style of architecture was so called from Ionia, where it took its rise. Its origin is not certain. A writer says: “The explanation of Vitruvius is that the Ionian colonists, on building a temple to Diana, wished to find some new manner that was beautiful. Following the method which they had pursued with the Doric (proportioning the column according to the dimensions of a man), they imparted to this the delicacy of the female figure.” The distinctive feature in the three orders is the capital of the column. In the Doric this is very simple; a curved moulding, round like the shaft, is surmounted by a large square block or abacus. In the Ionic the capital has two scroll-like ornaments, called volutes. There are more mouldings used, and the proportions are more slender. Asia Minor contains numerous remains of Ionic architecture. The Erectheium at Athens is the best known. The temple of Diana was included among the seven wonders of the world, as was the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, another Ionic temple recently discovered.
“Vestiges.” Latin, Vestigium. Marks of the foot on the earth. Tracks, traces, signs. “What vestiges of liberty or propriety have they left.”—Burke.
“Corinthian.” Vitruvius says of this order that it was arranged “to represent the delicacy of a young girl whose age renders her figure more pleasing and more susceptible of ornaments which may enhance her natural beauty.” The Corinthian capital is the most ornamented of the three orders. It is generally formed of various arrangements of acanthus leaves, and is much larger and more showy than the others. The monument of Lysicrates at Athens is the best example of this style.
“Cyclopean,” cy-clo-pēˈan. Pertaining to a class of giants, who had but one eye in the middle of the forehead. They were said to inhabit Sicily, and to be assistants in the workshops of Vulcan, fabled to be under Mt. Etna.
P. 263, c. 1.—“Jupiter Capitolinus.” This temple was built in the early days of Rome, and is said to have derived its name from the builders discovering, during the excavation, a freshly bleeding head (caput). According to the interpretation of the sages this sign indicated that the place should become the head of the world. The temple was dedicated to Jupiter as king of the gods. From it the hill on which it was situated took its name of the Capitoline.
“Appian Way.” The way or road from Rome to Brundusium, constructed partly by Appius Claudius, B. C. 313.
“Q. Metellus Macedonicus,” me-telˈlus măc-e-dŏnˈi-cus.
“Roman.” In the ground plan of Roman architecture there is a great difference from the Egyptian and Greek styles. The first employed the ellipse, the circle, the octagon, and combinations of these various forms in their plan, while the rectangle was the almost inevitable form in the two latter. Instead of the massive blocks of stone of former buildings, the Romans used small stones cemented with a cement of extraordinary power. They could build anywhere and of anything. The roofs were arched and in domes; the openings almost invariably arches; the columns and ornaments were generally varieties of Greek styles.
“Tetra style.” Having a portico of four columns in front. Tetra is the Greek word for four.
“Vitruvius,” vi-trūˈvi-us. See notes in The Chautauquan for October.
“Pseudo peripteral,” sūˈdō pe-rĭpˈte-ral. A peripteral temple had a single row of columns all around it. The variation of the style which existed in this temple led to its being called pseudo, or falsely peripteral.
“Maison Carrée,” mā-zong kăr-rā. The Square House, as the name signifies, is a beautiful Corinthian temple, of rectangular form. The temple was built when all France was under the rule of Rome. Although the Square House was injured in the wars of the middle ages, it has been restored, and is now used as a museum.
“Nimes,” neem. A city of France, about sixty miles northwest of Marseilles.
“Baalbec,” bâlˈbek.
P. 263, c. 2.—“Flavian.” The emperor Vespasian, who began the Colosseum, belonged to the house of Flavius, hence the name.
“Esquiline,” esˈqui-line; “Cœlian,” cœˈli-an.
“Pantheon,” pan-theˈon. Meaning all the gods. “In the year B. C. 27, on the occasion of the victory of Actium, when universal peace was declared, the great edifice was dedicated to all the gods, and figures of these in gold, in silver, in bronze, and in precious marbles were placed in niches within it, and hence the name Pantheon.” It is now a Christian church dedicated to the Virgin and All Saints, and is called the Rotunda.
P. 264, c. 1.—“Santa Sophia.” The church was not dedicated to a saint, but to the spirit of wisdom (sophia is the Greek for wisdom), the second person in the Trinity.
“Procopius.” See notes on “Greek History” in The Chautauquan for November.
“San Vitale,” san ve-tâˈlā.