DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4327#0041
18. CYMAT1UM OF THE TEMPLE OV ATHENE, FBOM A FRAGMENT IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM.
Height 1 foot 3 inches, Width 3 feet 1 inch.
DESCRIPTION OF PLATES.
Plate I.
Erontispiece.
Perspective view of the Temple of Athene Polias.
Restored.
Plates II. III. and IV.
General Plans.
These three Plates are engraved from drawings made
on the spot by Mr. Edward Falkener, and faithfully
represent the condition of the ruins as they existed when
he visited the spot in 1845. Taken in conjunction with
the two maps from the surveys of Sir W. Gell published
by the Society in the first volume of the Antiquities of
Ionia, they sufficiently explain the situation of Priene
when it was a seaport, and before the Gulf of Latmos
had been silted up by the diluvium brought down by the
River Mseander. It has been already pointed out, ante,
p. 27, that the gradual destruction of its port from the
advancement of the dry land in front of it was one, at
least, of the principal causes of the decay of the city and
of its ultimate abandonment.
Plate V.
General Plan of the Temenos of the Temple.
Mr. Pullan found no traces of the six internal columns of
the propylaeum indicated in Mr. Bedford's plan of that edifice
engraved in the first volume of the Antiquities of Ionia, ch.
ii. pi. 11. From the existence of columns in a similar situa-
tion in the two propylsea at Eleusis,1 which were probably
of about the same date as this temple, it seems probable
that internal pillars may have been introduced here also,
though the building is smaller than either of the Eleusinian
examples. The foundations, also, of pilasters which can bo
traced in the side-walls point also in the same direction.
But whether this was the case or not, all trace of their
previous existence has been removed from the floor of the
edifice and their restoration cannot now be otherwise than
conjectural.
Between the propylseum and the temple Mr. Pullan found
the foundations of a great rectangular block of masonry,
measuring 43 feet by 23 (see his Report, ante, page 30),
but he noticed nothing to indicate what the form of the
superstructure might have been, nor the purpose, conse-
quently, to which it was dedicated. It may have been a
platform to provide an elevated site for an altar, though in
that case—if its plan is correctly made out—it is difficult
1 Antiquities of Attica, chap. ii. pis. 1 to IG; chap. iii. 1 to 8.
to see where the steps were that must have led up to it.
Or it may have been only a pedestal to support a group
of sculpture. From the style of its architecture it is
certainly more modern than the temple itself.
Plate VI.
Plan op the Temple of Athene Polias.
Though belonging to the smallest class of Greek hexa-
style temples, its plan, measuring only 121 feet 8 inches
by 64 feet, is one of the most complete and best propor-
tioned of its class known to exist anywhere. The relative
proportions of the cella to the pronaos and posticum and
the arrangement of the peristyle are all typical, and
unsurpassed for elegance by anything found elsewhere.
The position of the statue in the cella is clearly ascer-
tained, and about 10 feet in front of it a metal screen or
rail seems to have divided the cella into two nearly equal
parts and to have protected the sacrarium from the pro-
miscuous intrusion of worshippers.
The opistliodomos was enclosed, though in what manner
was not clearly ascertained. The jambs of a doorway still
exist between the two central pillars (pis. xiv. xvi. and
xvii.), but it is not clear whether the two lateral openings
were closed by an open metallic grill or by a screen of
masonry, niGst probably the latter, as it Avould be a painful
architectural bathos to close the centre from the public eye
and leave the sides open. Nothing, however, was disco-
vered to determine this question either way.
Plates VII. and VIII.
Front and Flank Elevations of the Temple.
In all the restorations of this temple hitherto published
the height of the columns has been assumed to be nine
diameters, in accordance with the precept of Vitruvius
(lib. iv. ch. 1); but it having been ascertained from the
exhaustive analysis of Mr. Penrose (Appendix II.) that the
real height was not less than ten diameters, the temple in
these plates assumes a lighter and far more elegant form
than has been hitherto suspected. This is even more
apparent in the perspective view of the temple which
forms the frontispiece to this volume. Ten diameters may
now in fact be considered as about the normal proportion
of Ionic columns of the best age. It is true, nevertheless,
that those in the northern portico of the Erechtheum at
Athens (without the plinth) do not exceed nine diameters
in height, but they are spaced so widely apart and stand
Height 1 foot 3 inches, Width 3 feet 1 inch.
DESCRIPTION OF PLATES.
Plate I.
Erontispiece.
Perspective view of the Temple of Athene Polias.
Restored.
Plates II. III. and IV.
General Plans.
These three Plates are engraved from drawings made
on the spot by Mr. Edward Falkener, and faithfully
represent the condition of the ruins as they existed when
he visited the spot in 1845. Taken in conjunction with
the two maps from the surveys of Sir W. Gell published
by the Society in the first volume of the Antiquities of
Ionia, they sufficiently explain the situation of Priene
when it was a seaport, and before the Gulf of Latmos
had been silted up by the diluvium brought down by the
River Mseander. It has been already pointed out, ante,
p. 27, that the gradual destruction of its port from the
advancement of the dry land in front of it was one, at
least, of the principal causes of the decay of the city and
of its ultimate abandonment.
Plate V.
General Plan of the Temenos of the Temple.
Mr. Pullan found no traces of the six internal columns of
the propylaeum indicated in Mr. Bedford's plan of that edifice
engraved in the first volume of the Antiquities of Ionia, ch.
ii. pi. 11. From the existence of columns in a similar situa-
tion in the two propylsea at Eleusis,1 which were probably
of about the same date as this temple, it seems probable
that internal pillars may have been introduced here also,
though the building is smaller than either of the Eleusinian
examples. The foundations, also, of pilasters which can bo
traced in the side-walls point also in the same direction.
But whether this was the case or not, all trace of their
previous existence has been removed from the floor of the
edifice and their restoration cannot now be otherwise than
conjectural.
Between the propylseum and the temple Mr. Pullan found
the foundations of a great rectangular block of masonry,
measuring 43 feet by 23 (see his Report, ante, page 30),
but he noticed nothing to indicate what the form of the
superstructure might have been, nor the purpose, conse-
quently, to which it was dedicated. It may have been a
platform to provide an elevated site for an altar, though in
that case—if its plan is correctly made out—it is difficult
1 Antiquities of Attica, chap. ii. pis. 1 to IG; chap. iii. 1 to 8.
to see where the steps were that must have led up to it.
Or it may have been only a pedestal to support a group
of sculpture. From the style of its architecture it is
certainly more modern than the temple itself.
Plate VI.
Plan op the Temple of Athene Polias.
Though belonging to the smallest class of Greek hexa-
style temples, its plan, measuring only 121 feet 8 inches
by 64 feet, is one of the most complete and best propor-
tioned of its class known to exist anywhere. The relative
proportions of the cella to the pronaos and posticum and
the arrangement of the peristyle are all typical, and
unsurpassed for elegance by anything found elsewhere.
The position of the statue in the cella is clearly ascer-
tained, and about 10 feet in front of it a metal screen or
rail seems to have divided the cella into two nearly equal
parts and to have protected the sacrarium from the pro-
miscuous intrusion of worshippers.
The opistliodomos was enclosed, though in what manner
was not clearly ascertained. The jambs of a doorway still
exist between the two central pillars (pis. xiv. xvi. and
xvii.), but it is not clear whether the two lateral openings
were closed by an open metallic grill or by a screen of
masonry, niGst probably the latter, as it Avould be a painful
architectural bathos to close the centre from the public eye
and leave the sides open. Nothing, however, was disco-
vered to determine this question either way.
Plates VII. and VIII.
Front and Flank Elevations of the Temple.
In all the restorations of this temple hitherto published
the height of the columns has been assumed to be nine
diameters, in accordance with the precept of Vitruvius
(lib. iv. ch. 1); but it having been ascertained from the
exhaustive analysis of Mr. Penrose (Appendix II.) that the
real height was not less than ten diameters, the temple in
these plates assumes a lighter and far more elegant form
than has been hitherto suspected. This is even more
apparent in the perspective view of the temple which
forms the frontispiece to this volume. Ten diameters may
now in fact be considered as about the normal proportion
of Ionic columns of the best age. It is true, nevertheless,
that those in the northern portico of the Erechtheum at
Athens (without the plinth) do not exceed nine diameters
in height, but they are spaced so widely apart and stand