Fig. 265. Column and Capital of the Doric Order.
Doric Order of Architecture. The earliest and simplest of the three Greek orders. “The Grecian Doric order, at its best period, is one of the most beautiful inventions of architecture—strong and yet elegant, graceful in outline and harmonious in all its forms, imposing when on a great scale, and pleasing equally when reduced in size, by the exquisite simplicity of its parts.” (Newlands.) The columns of this order had no pedestal, nor base; the capital, which was half a diameter in height, had no astragal, but a few plain fillets, with channels between them, under the ovolo, and a small channel below the fillets. The ovolo is generally flat, and of great projection, with a quirk, or return. On this was laid the Abacus, which was only a plain tile, without fillet or ornament. A peculiarity of this order was the flutings of the column, twenty in number, shallow, and with sharp edges. The best examples of the Grecian Doric of which we have descriptions and figures are the temples of Minerva (called the Parthenon) and of Theseus at Athens, and that of Minerva at Sunium. The Roman Doric differs in important particulars from the Grecian. (See Roman Doric.)
Dormant or Couchant, Her. Asleep. (See Couchant.)
Dormer (Fr. dormir, to sleep). The top story in the roof of a house.
Dormer Window. A gabled window in the sloping side of a roof, projecting vertically; when it lies in the slope of the roof, it is a skylight.
Dorneck, Dornex, or Dornyks, O. E. An inferior damask, wrought of silk, wool, linen thread, and gold, at Tournay or Dorneck; 15th century.
Dorsale, Dosser, Dossier, Chr. (dorsum, the back). Pieces of tapestry or hangings put up in the arches or bays surrounding the choir of a church in order to screen the clergy and choristers from draughts of air. Also pieces of tapestry hung upon parapets, the panels of pulpits and stalls, and sometimes the backs of side-boards. It was the custom to hang tapestry, cloth of Arras, or needlework round the lower half of all the ancient dining-halls to a height of about five feet above the basement.
Dorsualia, R. (dorsum). An embroidered saddle-cloth, which was laid across the back of a horse on the occasion of a triumphal entry, or on the backs of victims for sacrifice. Examples of dorsualia occur on several monuments, in especial on a bas-relief of the arch of Titus, at Rome.
Doryphorus, Gen. (δορυ-φόρος). Literally, spear-bearer. Fig. [130] represents a Persian spearman. A celebrated statue of Polycletus (of the Argive school) is called the Doryphorus. “Polycletus advanced his art in several respects, chiefly by fixing a law of proportion, of which his Doryphorus, a youth bearing a spear, was called the Canon (q.v.); and also by his making the weight of the body rest on one foot, in contradistinction to the ancient practice, thereby producing a contrast between the supporting, weight-bearing side of the body, and the supported, freely-resting side.” (Butler’s Imitative Art.) The statue by Polycletus is lost. The proportions handed down to us by Vitruvius are thus described by Bonomi:—