DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5179#0319
THE CELEBRATED TEMPLE. 281
in Spain, said to have been founded two hundred
years before the destruction of Troy, and which
still continued sound and good in Pliny's time;
and to the roof of the Temple of Diana in Aulis,
which was of the same antiquity, and still perfect:
and then observes, the more odoriferous a wood is,
the more durable it is likely to be.
It does not appear whether these cypress doors
were lined with bronze ornamented in bas-relief,
or whether they were inlaid with other woods, or
decorated with metal ceelatura. Pliny says the
doors of the earliest temples were of brass.1 This
is probable, for we have already had occasion to
notice the extensive use of metal in the early ages
of the world. As the arts progressed, a more
elegant style of enrichment was made use of: and
thus the doors were frequently executed in the most
delicate inlaid work, or were beautifully painted.
The doors of the Temple of Minerva at Syracuse,
were ornamented with ivory panels of rich sculp-
ture set in gold. " It is incredible, (says Cicero,)
how many Greek authors have described these
doors : no temple ever had any more magnificent
in gold and ivory."2 Virgil's temple to Augustus
on the river Mincius, was to have relievi of ivory
and gold in the panels of the doors. Shortly after
Pliny's description of the doors of the Temple of
Diana was written, it would appear that they were
1 Plin. //. N. xxxiv. 7.
2 Cic. in Verr em, do Signis, §50.
2 o
in Spain, said to have been founded two hundred
years before the destruction of Troy, and which
still continued sound and good in Pliny's time;
and to the roof of the Temple of Diana in Aulis,
which was of the same antiquity, and still perfect:
and then observes, the more odoriferous a wood is,
the more durable it is likely to be.
It does not appear whether these cypress doors
were lined with bronze ornamented in bas-relief,
or whether they were inlaid with other woods, or
decorated with metal ceelatura. Pliny says the
doors of the earliest temples were of brass.1 This
is probable, for we have already had occasion to
notice the extensive use of metal in the early ages
of the world. As the arts progressed, a more
elegant style of enrichment was made use of: and
thus the doors were frequently executed in the most
delicate inlaid work, or were beautifully painted.
The doors of the Temple of Minerva at Syracuse,
were ornamented with ivory panels of rich sculp-
ture set in gold. " It is incredible, (says Cicero,)
how many Greek authors have described these
doors : no temple ever had any more magnificent
in gold and ivory."2 Virgil's temple to Augustus
on the river Mincius, was to have relievi of ivory
and gold in the panels of the doors. Shortly after
Pliny's description of the doors of the Temple of
Diana was written, it would appear that they were
1 Plin. //. N. xxxiv. 7.
2 Cic. in Verr em, do Signis, §50.
2 o