DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18826#0249
38 ARCHITECTURE. LECT II.]
ciderable size; and were, most probably, inserted
into the. walls, to sustain, either an upper story, or,
beams of considerable weight, on which the roof
rested.' The strength which they contributed, when
by attentive genius rendered regular, brought them
into use; and by progressive improvements, they in-
creased in importance, and in ornament.
There remain in some early edifices, very remark-
able indications, that ancient architects, in erecting
stone buildings, did little more than substitute one
material for another; they have imitated very closely
the courses, and the appearances, of those beams
of wood, which were necessarv to be laid from
part to part, for additional support. It is true,
they ornamented these marbles, but without ex-
eluding the appearance we have mentioned; and
had we now extant the original attempts at this
substitution, probably the likeness might be yet
more explicit. This is very apparent in certain
parts of the orders: let us therefore now turn our
attention to the orders; and to this circumstance,
among others, belonging to them.
The orders are usually reckoned five: the Tuscan,
the Doric, the Ionic, the Corinthian, the Composite:
not that the difference is throughout considerable
between these orders: for, between some of them
the variation is rather in their ornamental parts than
in their general principles, or their apparent con-
formation.
The Doric order of columns is considered, I
apprehend justly, as the most ancient. The
earliest Doric specimens remaining, usually con-
sist
ciderable size; and were, most probably, inserted
into the. walls, to sustain, either an upper story, or,
beams of considerable weight, on which the roof
rested.' The strength which they contributed, when
by attentive genius rendered regular, brought them
into use; and by progressive improvements, they in-
creased in importance, and in ornament.
There remain in some early edifices, very remark-
able indications, that ancient architects, in erecting
stone buildings, did little more than substitute one
material for another; they have imitated very closely
the courses, and the appearances, of those beams
of wood, which were necessarv to be laid from
part to part, for additional support. It is true,
they ornamented these marbles, but without ex-
eluding the appearance we have mentioned; and
had we now extant the original attempts at this
substitution, probably the likeness might be yet
more explicit. This is very apparent in certain
parts of the orders: let us therefore now turn our
attention to the orders; and to this circumstance,
among others, belonging to them.
The orders are usually reckoned five: the Tuscan,
the Doric, the Ionic, the Corinthian, the Composite:
not that the difference is throughout considerable
between these orders: for, between some of them
the variation is rather in their ornamental parts than
in their general principles, or their apparent con-
formation.
The Doric order of columns is considered, I
apprehend justly, as the most ancient. The
earliest Doric specimens remaining, usually con-
sist